


The Man And The Wolf

by GoldenPaws



Series: The Chains That Bind Us [6]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Awesome Jarvis (Iron Man movies), Because of course he does, Because of course he fucking is, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fenrir is a mess too, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I have no idea how to tag, I just needed the fluff so here take it, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Mentions of Torture/ Imprisonment, Relationship Issues, Relationship Problems, Sad, Tony Stark Angst, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Has Nightmares, Tony Stark Has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, What else is new, because I just couldn't resist okay, because it's Tony Stark what did you expect, but happy too, still lots of happy moments, talks about anxiety and depression kinda, they all kinda are, yay back with all the good stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-16 07:35:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21504214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenPaws/pseuds/GoldenPaws
Summary: “‘S really good. That you’re okay now, I mean. It’s- You know, I kinda had my doubts. But this... Wolfie, I can’t even tell you how amazing this is. Honestly, this might be one of the best things I’ve ever done. And that’s- That means something, you hear me? You mean something. To me. You mean a lot to me. So, uhm, just wanted to let you know. In case you didn’t already. But I guess you already because, because let’s face it: You’re way smarter than me. At least when it comes to shit like this.”Sato wonders how it’s possible for a single being to be this kind. This open and generous, even with all those scars he sees whenever he looks at the man. But Tony makes it seem so easy, almost natural and the most simple answer to the question, all while still lamenting about how he is such a bad person. Sato would like to tell him that he has met bad people, and that Tony is nothing like them at all. He might be damaged and scarred and hurt, but he is not cruel, and his soul shines brightly even in the wolf’s darkest moments. Sometimes he wonders if that’s the light he’s been looking for - The star that will guide him... Home? Is this his home now? The wolf isn’t sure, but he also isn’t sure where else would want to go.
Relationships: Fenrir & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: The Chains That Bind Us [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1477469
Comments: 33
Kudos: 106





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yay, I'm back! :D took a bit longer than expected, because I suddenly lost all motivation, and real life decided to intervene with my writing time, ugh -.-  
> But anyway, here we are! Gonna be honest: there won't be too much plot, just checking in with what our boys have been up to - and maybe a few hints about what else might be going on! It's already finished, so I'll post a chapter a day, and then take a longer break to tackle the next installment.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! Feedback is greatly appreciated, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
> 
> Love,  
> Goldie

The stars are beautiful. In this world, too. Sato sighs wistfully as he looks up towards the almost black sky and breathes in the cool, salty air. A soft breezes brushes through his fur as a few cold drops of water tickle his snout. The wolf sneezes and shakes his head, blinking a few times. He still doesn’t like the smell of salt water, but it no longer makes him tremble quite as much. Maybe he is getting used to it, he is not sure. He only knows that he hasn’t forgotten, and he probably never will. But things are changing. Even in the short amount of time that has passed.

His ears twitch, and he turns his head towards the sound. If he had a mouth, he’d be smiling by now. He remembers that. Smiling. He finds that he misses it these days. But there is Tony, grinning as he splashes in the shallow water of this ocean. He has pushed up his pants to his knees and now seems - Content. Relaxed and content, and Sato is relieved to feel no distress radiating from the man’s body. It’s a good night, after all. There have been bad days and nights, too, but the wolf doesn’t mind. He understands, he understands all too well. The man is- Scarred. Broken, almost, but it’s alright. He is still strong and bright and wonderful. Now, he turns back towards Sato and grins even wider.

“Wanna go for a swim, wolfie? Water feels awesome!”

The wolf scoffs and shakes out his fur, but the man only laughs.

“Your bad, it’s a lot of fun, actually! Uh, might be better, still. With those bandages. Hey, how do you feel about getting rid of them?”

Sato would like that very much. They have started to itch over the last few days, skin growing impatient as it heals and knits itself together. He has felt himself growing stronger with time as his muscles stretch and his bones heal and he has started to put on some weight again. Somehow, Tony has managed what the wolf thought impossible for centuries: He nurtured Sato back to health. Now, he no longer starts to tremble the moment he forces himself onto his paws. He needs less sleep and feels energy and the urge to move buzz underneath his skin. Sato is growing restless, and so he’s all the more relieved that Tony decided to take him outside again.

“JARVIS said we should be good to take them off in a few days. Means you’re all getting better! Isn’t that awesome?”

It is, Sato thinks as he trots slowly towards the man, who’s still splashing in the shallow water. It is a miracle, but Tony doesn’t seem to know. And how could he? The man may have come to care for him, but he did so without ever knowing about his past. That might have been what saved his life, but he won’t worry about it for too long. Sato has come to appreciate kindness wherever he finds it, not questioning it any further.

By now, he has reached Tony and nudges his snout against his back playfully. The man yelps as he tumbles forward and lands in the cool water on all fours. Sato feels joy bubble in his body, and he knows that if he had a mouth again, he’d laugh right now. Another thing that he misses dearly. Laughing.

“Oh, you’ve done it now, you little shit!”, the man grumbles as he pushes himself up again, “come here!”

Sato yips as Tony turns around and starts to splash him with salty water. He shakes out his fur and jumps away, but stays close enough so that the man can follow him and shovel water at his snout, even though it wouldn’t take him more than a single leap to get away. It’s a game, after all. Sato has always loved games, and he always loved to play with anyone who was willing. So now, they play. Tony splashes water at him, and Sato jumps forward to push him further into the water. The man yelps and curses, but he also smiles and laughs and ruffles the wolf’s fur whenever he comes close enough to reach. A game, they’re playing a game, and they both enjoy it.

“Okay!”, Tony finally pants as he leans forward and tries to catch his breath, “okay, I- I’m kinda beat, so uh... How about a moment of peace? Would you be up for that?”

Sato woofs and comes closer again, nudging the glowing chest and licking some of the salty water from his warm cheeks. The man scoffs, but still slides his wet hands into Sato’s scruff, and then slowly starts to lead him back towards the beach. They walk back to the blanket Tony spread out when they first got here. The man falls down onto it heavily, while Sato lies down beside it in the soft sand, resting his head in Tony’s lap.

“Seems like you’re really getting better, huh? With all that jumping and running around. You feeling better, too?”

Sato woofs again and nudges Tony’s hand. The man only rolls his eyes, but he does reach over and starts petting his head. The wolf sometimes wonders why the man even bothers to ask him such questions out loud, since he still seems convinced that Sato doesn’t understand a single word of what he says. Still, Sato appreciates his voice and he’s glad to know what Tony is thinking at least some of the time, and he tries to answer his questions as well as he can.

A few minutes later, the man lets out a deep sigh and lets himself fall back onto his back, where he stretches with a deep sigh. He radiates warmth and calm, which doesn’t happen too often, so Sato appreciates it all the more.

“You good to stay a little longer?”, he asks with a small yawn as he drags his hands through the wolf’s fur, scratching behind his ears.

Sato hums, turning slightly to rest his head at Tony’s stomach and chest, gazing down at the man’s face. He is staring up into the dark sky, watching the stars, and while Sato likes to do that, too, he enjoys watching Tony’s expression even more. It calms him, along with the soft, gentle humming that floods through his senses and soothes an ache deep inside of his chest. Turning his head to the side, he catches one of Tony’s hands in his maw and starts to carefully chew on his fingers. Everything is alright, at least for now. Sato has spent most of his days in pain and fear, so this calm, this warmth and safety is something to treasure, since he knows it won’t last. But he has learned to enjoy those short, precious moments with all of his heart.

“Pepper’s gonna be back in a few days.”

That makes Sato’s ears twitch. He has heard that name, and he can feel the tremble of Tony’s heart whenever he talks about her. It feels like love, and a little bit like pain. Sato knows those two things often come together.

“We, uh, we’ll have to think about, uhm... What we’re gonna do. About- Well, you. ‘Cause there’s no way I can tell her about you. At least not in the foreseeable future. Like, the next fifty years.”

The wolf cocks his head at that, and Tony scoffs and ruffles his fur.

“Yeah, you heard me right! Things are gonna get a little difficult over the next few days. I mean, I can’t let you outside when she’s here, and I can’t stay down in the workshop then, either. Oh, and you’ll have to be quiet when I tell you to, and we’ll have to figure out a way to-- Ugh, I’m getting a headache already! Think Future Tony will get all of this shit sorted out?”

Again, the wolf wishes he could smile, but he settles for nudging the man’s head and licking his throat. He has come to understand that Tony doesn’t mind that, and it still baffles him. Sato would never bare his throat as easily, would never show his belly to anyone he doesn’t know and trust. Tony is different, different from everyone Sato has ever known. But his trust still feels the same, and while the wolf doesn’t understand how he can still open up this easily, he also vows to protect the man, should anyone ever dare to try and use his trust against him. Tony might know about monsters, but Sato does, too, and while Tony might be smarter than the wolf, Sato knows that he is a lot stronger, and won’t have any problem tearing someone like Tony apart.

“Ah, whatever! We’re gonna figure it out somehow. We always have so far, right? And we’re getting better at the whole communication thing, too, which- Yeah, I never saw that one coming. Who would’ve thought? Tony Stark getting better at communicating... Because he has a giant wolf to take care of, and that guy actually teaches him about talking about his feelings!”

Tony laughs at that, and the wolf feels warmth rush through his blood at the sound. It’s such a wonderful, light and precious sound that he can’t help but lean closer, licking at the man’s beard and grumbling as he tries to push his snout away. It’s been a long time since he has heard anyone laugh like that. His world was silent for such a long time... He can’t help but treasure each and every sound he hears these days.

“Probably gonna invite Rhodey over tomorrow. You know, for moral support. And maybe he has a few ideas how to handle that whole Pepper-Situation. And then I wanna show him all the stuff we’ve been working on. We gotta show off to at least one person, right? If I can’t show the rest of the world just how amazing I am. Because of, uh, you, again.”

He answers with an excited yip, because he has come to like Rhodey quite a lot. Even if the man scared him in the beginning, he has come to understand that Tony trusts him, and that he himself has nothing to fear from him, either. Rhodey himself has lost his fear and no longer trembles around Sato, and the wolf has come to enjoy his company as well. Slowly, ever so slowly, he has managed to let go of his instinctual fear - At least as long as Tony is near. Without the man, he knows he will crumble and shatter within a matter of moments.

“Yeah, thought you’d like that! Because Rhodey always bring pizza for you, and you’re a spoiled little wolfie who eats way too much junk food-- Hey, bad wolfie! Bad, bad- Ugh, stop it, will you, ew, ew ew ew ew EW, you’re so gross!”

Sato doesn’t care, he just continues to lick the man’s face and nip gently, carefully at his ears. Tony curses and tells him to back off and stop it, but he’s laughing and grinning again, and Sato knows he doesn’t mind as much as he says. Still, he stops after a few more seconds, nuzzling against Tony’s neck and breathing in his familiar scent.

“Ugh, you’re disgusting! Now I gotta take another shower- The second one today!”, Tony grumbles as he wipes a hand over his wet face and then pushes it back into Sato’s fur, “you gonna pay for my water? I may be a billionaire, but I think you’ll find a way to drive even me into bankruptcy!”

They stay on the beach for just a little longer. Sato listens as Tony’s heart rate and breathing slow down, as he closes his eyes and focuses on the gentle hum that drowns out his fears and worries. Tony leans his head back a little more, brushing his hands through Sato’s fur, scratching at his favorite spots as he begins to tell him some stories again, about the stars, and what tales his people thought of. The wolf listens attentively, sometimes huffing when Tony loses track and starts to spin his own tales, but he never interrupts.

This... This feels familiar. It reminds him of his father’s stories, told under a different night sky - Or maybe it was the same? Still, the stories are new and unknown, and it’s someone else telling them. He tries not to think about how much he misses his father’s voice, and instead lets Tony’s soothing murmurs wash through his ears. He is safe - For now. He is safe, and he is welcome here, no matter what Tony might joke about. The man can’t lie to him, and he never will. So Sato knows that he is welcome and cared for, and maybe even loved. At the very least he is trusted, which is more than he ever thought possible. With a deep sigh, he allows his eyes to slip closed and sink into the warmth provided by the strange creature resting right next to him.

Yes... He will stay. For as long as the universe will allow him to.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE, HAVE SOME FLUFF!
> 
> (Love, Goldie)

Tony wakes up feeling... Good. Which is slowly but surely becoming an almost scarily regular occurrence, so he’s still a little hesitant whenever he wakes up feeling well rested, and not like road kill at all. Yeah, strange sensation. But not unwelcome. With a yawn, he stretches himself out wide until his joints pop. One of his hands bumps into Sato’s snouts, and the wolf starts to snuffle, lazily licking at his fingers before resting his heavy head on his chest again. Yeah, there’s that feeling of slight suffocation he’s come to appreciate over the last few weeks.

“Morning, buddy”, he murmurs as he drags a hand through his messy hair and yawns, “you ready to get up?”

The only answer he gets is an annoyed grumble, and he chuckles at that. Yeah, his wolf is not a morning... Person? Whatever, Tony isn’t, either, so they understand each other. And anyway, they don’t have much to do today, since they’ve been working hard over the last few days. They deserve the rest.

“Anything on our schedule today, J?”

_No, sir. You are free to spend the day however you see fit. The only thing worth mentioning would be Colonel Rhodes’ call about twenty minutes ago, who asked if he could come over for a visit later on._

“Oh, great! Yeah, be a dear and tell him he’s more than welcome to come by! We’ve got some things we wanna show him, don’t we, wolfie?”, he adds with grin as he rolls to his side and curls around the big snout resting beside him now.

That’s how he’s spent all of his nights over the last few days. Somehow, he just never had any reason to go back up to his actual bedroom - Which would’ve just been super impractical, since his mattress is already down here, and he has about zero motivation to carry that heavy-ass thing back up, when he’s perfectly fine camping in his lab. And maybe, just maybe, he might just be a tiny bit uncomfortable leaving the wolf alone in his workshop, all by himself. And who cares, anyway? He’s been sleeping better than ever, so there’s no disadvantages he can see.Also, he doesn’t really give a shit. He’s Tony Fucking Stark, if he wants to have a sleep-over every single night for two weeks straight, he can and he _will_!

JARVIS is busy rattling off news and weather (Tony doesn’t really care, so he only listens with one ear), and then he relays a message to Rhodey, inviting him over for lunch - Which will be in less than two hours, since they’ve slept in again, but he’s too comfortable to care. Advantages of being your own boss: You can work whenever you want, and no one gets to yell at you if you decide to not get up until lunch is delivered. Yeah, some days life and can be pretty awesome. Or it would be, if Sato didn’t choose that very moment to blink his eyes open and lick his lips, looking around the lab. Ugh, Tony knows that look! It’s the wolf’s _I’m hungry and I want food right now or I’ll start sniffing around and whine until you feed me_ look. It also means that Tony has about five minutes to get up and serve breakfast, or brunch, or Sato will get up and try to get food by himself, which always leads to disaster. He’s talking from experience here. About a week ago, he took the newest suit for a test flight, and only came home after dark, sweaty and satisfied - To a partly trashed lab and a frustrated wolf clawing at the industrial freezer. So yeah, they won’t do that again.

“JARVIS, make sure to order another batch of meat today. Think we’re running low again”, he murmurs as he struggles out of his makeshift bed and pads through the lab.

He has spent about three days cleaning up the damage Sato did when he first appeared here, though he grudgingly had to admit that three of his cars were ready to be totaled, and the rest would cost him more money to repair than they were worth at this point. Which was a bummer, but there was nothing to be done about that, either, so he didn’t bother being angry about it for too long. On the other hand, the fact that the wolf blasted most of his glass walls actually proved useful, considering the next project he got started on.

“So, what do you wanna have today?”, he asks with a grimace as he opens the freezer, “pork? Beef? Or deer? Ooooh, I see JARVIS got you some of that elk again, how about that, huh?”

He gets an excited yip as an answer, because it turned out that Sato _loves_ the elk meat JARVIS ordered all the way from Canada, even more than the rest of their selection - Almost as much as pizza, which Tony never would’ve thought possible. Chuckling lowly, he grabs five big bags and heaves them onto the floor, grabbing a small knife and cutting them open. He can _feel_ Sato’s eyes boring into his back, and the wolf’s hot breath in his neck, ruffling his hair just a bit. Yeah, his wolf is hungry, so he hurries to dump the meat onto the patch of floor he has reserved for that kind of thing. Then, he turns around and looks at the impatient animal.

Sato whines as he licks his lips and looks at him pleadingly. Tony takes a moment to hold up his hand and raise his eyebrows.

“Wait a sec, alright? Just wait a moment... Easy... Easy... Okay, go get it, buddy!”

The wolf lunges and starts to devour his meal, and the engineer wisely steps aside and walks over to his workstation. They’ve been working on that, since it seemed kinda necessary. Tony’s been watching... Well, lots of videos on training dogs, since barely anyone trains wolves the way he needs to, so he has to settle for those. And hey, apparently dogs and wolves aren’t that different, after all! Sato learned all the little things he’s been trying out extremely fast, so he can’t be too wrong. He hopes, at least.

After breakfast, Sato trots back to the mattress and rests his head there, licking his lips and paws clean, while Tony goes back upstairs to shower and brush his teeth. With JARVIS watching, he’s come to leave the wolf on his own a few times already. Not for too long, but a few hours aren’t that much of a problem, especially after he’s eaten and is kinda tired. That way, Tony gets to leave the house, too, and doesn’t go crazy. Still, Sato always whines and yips whenever he gets back, so he tries to keep the time the wolf has to spend alone to a minimum.

Freshly showered, he puts on fresh clothes (nothing fancy, sweatpants and an old, soft AC/DC shirt) and pads into the kitchen. Grabbing a box of cereal, he munches on that as he makes his way back down. Sato blinks lazily at him, and the engineer makes sure to ruffle his fur when he walks over. Crouching down in front of the big wolf, he takes a closer look at the bandaged legs and neck. The gauze has stayed clean and dry, and he frowns as he gently presses down on it. Sato rumbles lowly, but no longer flinches away, which is good.

“Hey, JARVIS? How long till we can take those off for good?”

_Sato’s injuries seem to be almost completely healed by now. There is no reason to not take them off right this moment._

“Wait, seriously? Like, all of them, or...?”

_I’d advise leaving the bandages on his hind leg on for another couple of days, but the ones on his ankles and neck should safe to remove immediately. I am not sure about the bandaging at his flank, which is covering the puncture wound._

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll leave that one, sure, no trouble. What about his shoulder, though?”

_The breaks have not healed completely so far, but I’d estimate it won’t take much longer than three to five days._

“And- And then he’ll be able to walk again?”

_There is still a need to be cautious and not put too much stress on the limb, but yes, Sato should be able to walk again in less than a week._

Tony knew that, of course, in a way, since JARVIS has kept him updated, but this... Wow. This is a little overwhelming. He turns around to look at Sato, who’s currently lying on the marble floor, head resting on the mattress as he dozes.

Yeah, the wolf looks different. Very different, compared to how he looked when he came here. Still bandaged up, but he looks... Better. His fur is clean again - Thanks to Rhodey, who grew tired of having his hands covered in dirt and blood whenever he petted the big wolf, and took Sato out into the backyard one night and spent almost three hours meticulously washing his fur, then drying him off and even going so far as to cut away some of the matted patches that couldn’t be saved. Tony laughed his ass off when Rhodey then proceeded to actually pick up a comb and work it through the now fluffy pelt. Seriously, that man missed his calling as a dog groomer.

Still, Tony has to admit that it was worth the effort - Sato’s fur is clean, almost gleaming when the lights hits it the right way, softer to the touch than ever before, and the wolf seems to be more comfortable as well. Even though he laughed at first, the engineer made sure to send Rhodey five different gift baskets, just to let him know he appreciated him, no matter how weird that image of him combing through the wolf’s grey-white fur was (and the pictures he took to forever preserve that precious moment).

But Tony has done his part as well. Feeding Sato at least once a day has paid off, since the wolf has definitely gained some weight. His shoulders and hipbones are no longer visible quite so clearly, and most of his ribs are now hidden under his fur again. Tony has also noticed that the wolf no longer struggles to keep himself on his own paws, and trotting around barely seems to take any effort by now. Yeah, he’s getting a lot better. The risk of infection is basically 0% percent by now, and his chance of survival has risen to 92% (which makes Tony breathe a sigh of relief whenever JARVIS mentions that estimation), and if they take off those bandages...

“You’re gonna be the prettiest wolf around! I mean, you already are, because you’re kinda the only one I’ve got, but then you’re gonna be even prettier! You looking forward to that?”

Sato only huffs and as he rubs his free paw over his snout, and that’s just the cutest thing ever. Okay, so the wolf apparently couldn’t care less about his appearance, which is just as well. Tony will care for both of them. Someone has to, after all!

“Ugh, you’re just like Rhodey. No sense for fashion at all! It’s a disgrace, is what it is! But don’t worry, I’ll teach you, somehow. I mean, if I can teach you to wait for your food, I can surely teach you how to care about fashion!”

It’s a rather optimistic plan, but hey, Tony is a genius after all! So far, he has found a few smart solutions for his most urgent problems, and he has some ideas about the ones he hasn’t solved just yet. Once he’s done with all of that, he’ll work on getting his wolf to appreciate fashion statements _at least_ as much as he does. Somehow. Ah, he’ll figure it out!

_Sir, Colonel Rhodes has arrived._

“Awesome! Let him in, we’ve been waiting!”

Sato’s head lifts, and he whines lowly in his throat. A moment later, he starts to wag his tail, and then continues to struggle up onto his paws and hobbles towards the door. Just as he’s about to reach the door, Rhodey steps into the workshop. Sato yips happily, and the man starts to smile as he walks over and starts petting the big wolf’s head.

“Hey there, buddy! How you doing?”

“Better than ever, according to JARVIS!”, Tony calls from his workstation as he frowns at a malfunctioning joint of the newest suit, “good thing you came by today. We’re gonna get rid of those bandages!”

Rhodey tries to come closer, but it’s kinda difficult with a huge wolf demanding most of his attention and affection, pushing his snout against his chest and side until he’s stumbling. Still, Rhodey pushes on and reaches Tony’s workstation after just a little longer than usual.

“Really? So, he’s really better?”

“Yeah, seems that way. JARVIS said it’d be alright, so I’m ready to risk it. We won’t remove all of them, but most. Oh, and his shoulder and leg should be ready in a few days, too!”

“Wow, that’s a lot of good news”, Rhodey murmurs as he gently pushes Sato’s snout aside as the wolf sniffs at his jacket, “sorry, didn’t bring you anything, buddy.”

“That’s a lie, and he knows it.”

“Thank you so much for that”, Rhodey grumbles as the wolf now whines louder and nudges his arm impatiently, “and you’ll just have to be patient! I brought pizza for all of us. As soon as Tony is ready, we can go upstairs and eat.”

“And I want to take a moment and get rid of those bandages first.”

“Cool, then let’s do that right now. I’m hungry. Your wolf is, too.”

“He just had his breakfast! Fifty pounds of elk meat!”

Sato doesn’t look like he particularly cares, whining and now leaning over to nudge (gently, carefully, because he somehow knows not to mess with Tony’s work _too much_ ) his elbow. The engineer sighs, but he also knows how to choose his battles, and this is one he can only lose. Also, he’s kinda hungry himself, so he puts the suit part down and gets up.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming! Jeez, how are you hungry again already?”

Sato only huffs as he turns to leave, but Tony is quick to grab onto his scruff and pull him back.

“Ah-ah-ah, wait a second! First, we’re gonna take off those bandages, remember? And _then_ we can go get us all some pizza.”

He gets to work before Sato can complain too much, cutting the bandages around the first leg loose and then unwrapping it. They’ve stayed clean and dry this time, and that’s a good sign. When they finally fall away, Tony sucks in a deep breath and feels his fingers tremble ever so slightly.

Because the leg is healed. Sure, he’s still looking at raw, red skin, and those scars will probably never vanish - But he can’t see any blood, there’s no cut apart muscles or bones peeking through. Just - Healthy skin and closed flesh. It’s absolutely amazing.

“Look at that, Rhodey”, Tony whispers as he reaches out and gently brushes his fingers over the warm skin, “look at that! That’s- that’s, I mean - _Look_!”

Rhodey does come closer and look, and Tony can tell that he’s pretty amazed as well. Because of course he is, because this is absolutely mind blowing, and Tony feels a little bit like crying. Clearing his throat, he quickly starts working on the other three legs, and he has to blink a few more times, because they all look the same as the first one. Scarred flesh, red, raw skin, no blood, and no pain when he brushes his finger over the flesh, just a slight shudder through the wolf’s frame. The engineer sits back on his heels and just stares for a while.

“Rhodey--”

“Yeah, I see it. That’s amazing, Tony! I mean, the way he looked before...”

And yeah, he’s right. When he thinks of how bad it all looked less than a month ago, he still can’t quite believe it. Back then, JARVIS told him Sato would be dead in less than five hours. And now? Now the wolf leans down to gently lick his cheeks when he takes too long to move again. Tony huffs a laugh and reaches his hands up to pet the wolf’s fluffy cheek.

“Hey, don’t worry, I’m okay. Would you look at that leg of yours for a moment? And tell me how happy you are about the progress?”

The wolf _does_ look at his leg when Tony taps against it. Sniffs at the new skin and licks at it a few times. His tail wags as he looks up again, playfully nudging at his chest and nipping at his hands when reaches out again. So yeah, the wolf seems happy, too. Tony still needs a moment to gather himself again, and he’s a little shaky when he reaches up and pulls off the bandage covering the cut on Sato’s neck. That cut is pretty much gone, too, and wow, just- Wow. This feels like Christmas came early, just so much better, because Tony doesn’t give a fuck about Christmas, but he cares so, _so_ much about this.

“Fuck, I never- I never thought it’d work. At least not this well”, he murmurs as he brushes a finger against the wolf’s ankle and feels him shudder, “god, remember the way you looked when you came here? You’ve come a long way, buddy!”

“You both have”, Rhodey says lowly in the background as he claps a hand onto Tony’s shoulder and squeezes.

“You think?”

“Well, you’re the one to take him in. You’re the one who stitched him back together and made sure he’d survive. That’s all on you.”

And Tony- He’s good at... Things. A lot of things, actually, but he’s especially good at inventing and building things and making everyone stare in wonder whenever he accomplishes something previously deemed impossible. But that’s only when it comes to machines. He’s never been good with- _Living things_. People, mostly. And while he’s great at taking apart and repairing all kinds of shit, he’d never have thought that he’d be able to _fix a living creature_. Flesh and bones and all that stuff isn’t his cup of tea, and he never knew how to deal with those, and he never had to. But here he is, looking into Sato’s shining, golden-brown eyes and he realizes that he did it - He _saved_ the wolf.

“Holy shit, I’m awesome!”

“You just had to ruin that moment, didn’t you?”, Rhodey groans as he pushes away, “why am I even trying anymore?”

“Because you love me, dear!”

“Whatever. I’m gonna go get some pizza. When you’re done patting yourself on the back, you can come join me.”

“Aw, but that’s what I’ve got you for!”

“In your dreams, asshole!”

The engineer chuckles, and then curses when he gets pushed back and falls onto his ass. Sato is apparently done waiting, and he’s heard the word _pizza_ , so there’s nothing holding him back. Barreling past him, the wolf hobbles after Rhodey, and Tony is left behind, struggling back onto his feet.

“Ungrateful little shit”, he murmurs as he brushes himself off and walks after them, “talk about pizza, and all loyalty is forgotten!”

When he reaches the living room, he has to stop in his tracks and just look at the scene in front of him for a moment. There’s Rhodey, trying to set up a movie, their food and drinks, all the while fighting against Sato, who’s doing his best to get a hold of at least one of those cartons, whining and grumbling and pushing at Rhodey’s hand, which are in the way. His best friend is cursing and growling himself, but Sato won’t give up and now starts to play dirty - Pushing Rhodey back into the couch as he stretches his neck and his teeth snap into the direction of the carton.

“TONY! CONTROL YOUR WOLF!”

The engineer chuckles as he starts making his way towards them, clapping his hands to get the wolf’s attention. Sato’s eyes wander towards him, and it looks absolutely hilarious, because he’s still reaching for the carton while pushing Rhodey against the couch.

“Bad wolfie! That’s no way to behave!”

Sato _does_ hesitate, and Tony can tell he’s thinking about wether or not it’s worth risking a lecture. Finally, he lets out a huff and drops his head with a slightly chastised expression, shrinking into himself just a bit. Rhodey huffs as he straightens again and finally sits down on the sofa, opening the first carton. Tony steps around the big wolf lying down in front of Rhodey before falling into the cushions himself, grabbing a beer and cracking it open.

“See, that’s so much better! And I’m sure Uncle Rhodey is gonna give you a slice for being such a good wolfie, too! Am I right?”

“You realize that by calling me his uncle, your implying that you’re his dad, right?”

Sato’s ears twitch at that again, and he cocks his head. Tony rolls his eyes at Rhodey who, _of course_ , has already grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza and is offering it to Sato. Who doesn’t seem all that interested. Instead, he’s watching Tony intently, as if waiting for a reaction. Which is- weird. And Tony isn’t all that sure what’s expected from him here, exactly.

“Uh, what? C’mon, don’t be ridiculous! I’m just his temporary care person, or some shit like that.”

“Of course.”

“... What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, nothing. Just... You know...”, his friend answers with a grin as he leans back and takes a bite of the pizza Sato didn’t want.

Tony frowns at that, but he gets distracted by JARVIS starting up a movie Rhodey apparently already selected (which is just so not fair, and he’ll have to do something about that sooner rather than later) and then by Sato, who seems to have gotten over his initial hesitation and is now loudly demanding food and attention, in that order, please! It says a lot about his life that he has nothing more to offer than a slight scoff and surrender, as he takes out an entire pizza and feeds it to the wolf. Sato rumbles happily as he munches it down, and then makes even more content sounds when Tony drags his big, heavy head into his lap as he scoots down and starts scratching between his eyes, up and down the back of his snout.

“... Spoiled.”

“Ex-fucking-cuse me, he’s just very affectionate giant wolf! Don’t you judge him for his love!”

“Say what you want, you spoiled that wolf in less than a month. That’s gotta be a new record!”

“Don’t listen to him, buddy”, Tony mutters as he holds the wolf’s ears closed, “you’re a wonderfully cuddly wolfie, and I won’t ever hold that against you!”

Tony can practically _feel_ Rhodey rolling his eyes, but he doesn’t care. Whatever, so maybe he _did_ spoil his wolf, just a tiny bit. But he’ll never admit that out loud. And anyways, he doesn’t care. He loves his cuddly wolf, and he’ll never mind getting almost squished by an attention demanding Sato.

That’s also the moment the opening credits roll, and the engineer can’t help but roll his eyes now, too.

“Really?”

“Got any problem?”

“Uh, yeah. Because that joke’s getting pretty old already.”

“So you’re saying you’ve got something against a classic?”

“... The wolf gets shot.”

“I’m aware. So what?”

Tony just shrugs as he lowers his gaze and focuses on Sato instead. His own wolf is still watching the screen, and he can’t help but feel just a little uneasy. It’s not something he’d admit to Rhodey, but ever since he’s started watching movies with Sato regularly... He’s not sure how or why, but he’s pretty sure the wolf understands almost everything that happens on the screen. So he’s not sure if it’s such a good idea to first get him attached to Two Socks, and then watch him get shot brutally. But he won’t tell Rhodey that, because he has no way of explaining the dread curling in his stomach. Instead, he slides down deeper into the cushions and hopes things won’t go as badly as he fears.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY SCIENCE!!! (I suck at science, so sorry in advance)
> 
> also, our boys being cute (I hope, or else I've failed everything)
> 
> lemme know what you think, hope you enjoy!
> 
> Love,  
> Goldie

In the end, Tony decides not to take that risk. He can feel himself growing more and more tense the closer they get to that damned scene, and the wolf starts to look at him with worry and almost fear. Of course, he doesn’t understand what’s going on. In his mind, everything’s okay, so why would Tony be stressing out? About two minutes before Two Socks gets shot, Sato whines lowly and pushes his snout into Tony’s lap, licking at his fingers and practically asking him what’s wrong. And that’s when he decides to not risk it.

“Stop the movie, JARVIS.”

The movie stops, and Rhodey rouses from his half asleep state. Blinking and yawning he frowns at the screen before turning towards the two of them.

“What the hell man?”

“Movie’s over.”

“Yeah, but why?”

“Because I don’t really feel like watching- You know...”

He gestures towards the screen, and his friend takes a moment to understand. Then, his gaze softens ever so slightly when he turns back and looks at Tony.

“You big softie.”

“Ugh, shut up!”, the engineer groans as he pushes Sato back gently and gets to his feet again, “movie’s over, so now it’s time for me and wolfie to show off what we’ve been working on! C’mon, down to the lab we go!”

He doesn’t wait for any confirmation, instead turns and and starts walking. Sato follows him almost immediately, struggling up to his three paws and then limping through the living room. Rhodey takes a little longer to follow, but he does in the end, and Tony’s already dreading the talk they’re gonna have at some point, because there’s no chance Rhodey will let this go. And he gets it, because this is not like him at all. It’s just... He might’ve grown a little more sensitive when it comes to certain topics, sue him! But there’s no way he can explain that, even to Rhodey. So instead, he prances into his lab, with Sato at his heels and gets ready to show off to his best friend.

“Alright, so we’ve got three cool things to show you. Prepare to be amazed, my friend, because I’m about to--”

Rhodey cuts him off with an already exasperated sigh, and Tony suppresses the urge to stick out his tongue.

“Yeah, you just keep on doubting my genius!”

“I’d never doubt you’re smart”, the man replies easily as he takes a seat next to the workstation, “but I’d also never doubt your giant ego. You wanna get started at some point soon?”

The engineer rolls his eyes, but he does turn to grab one of his tablets and starts scrolling through his blueprints and data. Okay, then he’ll have to do this without a cheerleading squad. Whatever, he’s still amazing, and Rhodey’s mind will be blown!

“Okay, okay. You ready?”

Rhodey gestures for him to continue with a slightly impatient expression, so Tony doesn’t wait any longer.

“JARVIS, activate _blackout mode_.”

_Of course, sir._

Just like that, the glass walls all turn completely black. The majority of the lights shut off, and the lab is coated in a new, soft, golden glow. Tony keeps looking at the screen, making sure that everything’s going according to plan, while Rhodey looks around with raised eyebrows.

“Cool, huh?”

“Uh, sure. What exactly is this?”

“ _Blackout mode_. Makes sure that no one can accidentally spot Sato in here, if I’m not around. Also changes the lights in the meantime, since those are easier on his eyes. And, even though you can’t actually see it, the room turns basically soundproof, meaning that even if he was howling and roaring in here, you probably wouldn’t hear more than a slight rumbling, even if you’re standing right in front of that door.”

“Wow. That’s actually pretty cool.”

“Don’t sound so surprised!”, Tony groans and shakes his head, “of course it’s cool! _I_ made it!”

Sato woofs and trots over, gently nudging the engineer’s shoulder. At least there’s one living being in this room who appreciates him. Reaching over to ruffle the wolf’s fur, he gestures for Rhodey to come closer.

“Okay, second awesome thing: Here.”

The Colonel frowns as he looks down on the screen for a few seconds. JARVIS is nice enough to provide not only the data, but has added some description as well. Tony watches his friend’s face impatiently, and he can’t help but grin when he sees it click.

“Is that--”

“Oh yeah, it is!”, he chuckles as he pulls the tablet back and taps on the screen, “I mean, it’s by no means finished, just some ground work, but you’d be surprised how well that already works out for us!”

Rhodey’s mouth has actually dropped open, and Tony puffs up just a little at his friend’s amazement. Admittedly, he’s pretty proud of this one himself, because it’s made their lives infinitely easier, and he never thought it possible. Grinning at his slack-jawed friend, he pulls up a few more graphs, along with the right descriptions.

“Here, see? We had tons of data, so we used those to compare them with what we recorded in certain situations, then we singled them out, and then we checked them a few times... It took a while, I’ll admit that, but it was absolutely worth it!”

“So, you basically--”

“Decoded Sato’s very unique communication pattern? Hell yeah, I did!”

“So you--”

“Know what he wants based on what kind of energy patterns we’re getting? Yup, that’s it!”, Tony adds with a grin as he scratches Sato’s cheek until the wolf leans heavily into his touch, “I mean, again: It’s far from being finished, but we’ve got the basics down. Stuff like food, or attention, and fear, stress, all that stuff. JARVIS is constantly doing scans, and he lets me know whenever something important happens. This way, I always know whenever he gets hungry, if he’s scared or just getting nervous, and if he wants attention, or feels kinda lonely. And then I can respond accordingly.”

“Jesus. That’s- Wow. That’s really, _really_ cool, Tony.”

And yeah, he’s proud, because it’s been working out really well so far. JARVIS lets him know the moment his scanners detect one of the patterns they’ve determined, and which one it is, simple as that. Might not seem like much, but he’s basically decoded a giant wolf’s communication signals without any outside help, and that’s amazing, even if no one will ever know. Except for Rhodey, of course.

“So, what kinda signals are you getting?”

“Uh, pretty simple stuff so far. A few one for hunger, some for stress - We watched a few movies he didn’t like, and we had to switch them off. Then, we’re also working on something that looks like... Boredom, I guess? Oh, and attention. Lots of attention signals.”

“‘Cause he’s spoiled.”

Tony doesn’t dignify that with an answer, instead he drones on without reaction.

“And if you come by about two or three more times, I think we’ll have a signal for attentiveness, or whatever he expresses when some is setting foot into the house. Because that’s an interesting pattern as well, since the one I get whenever you come around is completely different from when the pizza guy knocks- I mean, they start out as the same, but they change long before he can actually _see_ who’s coming.”

“I’ve been your guinea pig, then.”

“Of course you’d focus on that!”, Tony groans as he drags a hand over his face, “but yeah, kinda. Still waiting to see what happens when someone he doesn’t know at all will come by.”

“Like Pepper?”

“Yeah, like- Ugh, you asshole!”

Rhodey just shrugs, but Tony doesn’t want to hear it. Grumbling lowly, he pushes past his friend and trudges towards his mattress. Sato whines, low and confused, as he hobbles after him and lies down heavily at his feet moments later. Those warm, golden-brown eyes gaze up into his face, and Tony wishes he could make the wolf understand. But it’s just a wolf, after all. It doesn’t know anything about love, at least not that kind, and he’s probably already forgotten everything he’s told him about Pepper so far. Still, it’s nice to know he’s being supported.

“You’ll have to talk about it at some point.”

“No. No, I don’t. I just have to somehow make it work once she’s back, that’s literally all I have to do.”

“And how’s that been working out for you so far?”

“What do you want from me?”

“I dunno. Call her? Tell her you’re sorry for whatever you did and ask for her forgiveness?”

“I tried to call”, Tony murmurs as he sets the tablet down on the mattress and buries both hands in Sato soft fur, “she declined. Not interested in talking to me right now, it seems. So, what else am I supposed to do, other than sit around and wait for her to come back?”

“Ever thought of texting her?”

“Is this really the kind of thing you should try to solve through texting?”

“... Maybe not.”

Rhodey steps around Sato’s hind legs and tail, sitting down next to Tony with a deep sigh. It’s not a good sign he’s not offering anything else, because Rhodey’s usually the guy with the plan, and if even he’s running out of ideas...

“Maybe you should just--”

“Look, dear, I know you’re only trying to help, but it’s not working out right now. I already know I fucked up, and I can’t do anything but wait for her to come back and hope that she’s willing to give me yet another chance. Nothing more to it.”

Sato grumbles unhappily, then catches Tony’s hand in his maw and nips at his fingers. The engineer smiles down at the giant wolf- More like a giant puppy, honestly, and leans forward until he can rest his forehead against the wolf’s.

“Thanks, buddy. I appreciate it, I really do.”

He can feel Rhodey looking at them, but his friend doesn’t say anything else, even though Tony is sure he can _feel_ his thoughts circle around in his head. But Rhodey also knows when to keep his mouth shut, so they stay quiet for a few moments. Finally, Tony lifts his head and clears his throat.

“Wanna see the third one?”

“Huh?”

“Third thing we’ve been working on - JARVIS, Sato and me.”

“Oh, uh, sure. What is it?”

The engineer gets up (earning himself an unhappy grumble from Sato as he pushes the wolf’s head away) and starts walking back towards his workstation. There, he picks up a small device, and turns to show it to Rhodey.

“What’s that?”

“A scanner, basically. Like the ones JARVIS uses all the time. Only this one is specialized to read Sato’s energy, looking for patterns and spikes. And then it’ll send the data”, he continues as he picks up a watch and holds it up, “to this receiver. I mean, the one I built and hid in there. But yeah, that’s the plan.”

“So you’d be able to get readings wherever and whenever you want?”

“Basically.”

“Sounds very useful. You gonna attach it to him?”

Tony nods slowly as he bites his lower lip and looks towards the wolf. Sato is watching them attentively, blinking happily when their eyes meet, wagging his tail lazily.

**Thump thump thump. Thump thump thump thump. Thump thump thump.**

It’s become one of Tony’s favorite sounds over the last few weeks. Rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, he turns back to Rhodey and lowers his voice, just to be safe.

“Yeah, I... I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

“Why not? You think it’ll hurt him?”

“What? No, of course not! _I_ built it, okay? No, that’s not the reason I’m a little-Worried.”

“Then what is?”

“I can’t just stick that scanner to his fur and hope it’ll stay there. I’d have to attach to some kind of collar, fit it around his neck or leg. And I just don’t think that’s something he’d appreciate.”

He hasn’t even dared to try so far. Sato is good natured and gentle at heart, but Tony knows that’s not something he can take for granted. The wolf still flinches violently when he’s touched in a way he doesn’t like - Mainly his legs and ankles, but also when he’s asleep or staring off into the distance, not expecting contact. He has never hurt Tony, but he _has_ growled and snapped into his direction during some of those moments. And even if he was okay with it - Tony simply doesn’t like that thought at all. Putting a collar on a wolf, with that kind of injuries, it’s weird, almost- No, it’s kinda wrong, actually. It makes Tony think of chains and fetters and being locked away, and those thoughts make him shudder and almost gag. So no, he hasn’t even tried yet.

“C’mon, Tony. That wolf adores you! I’m sure you could at least try. If he doesn’t like it, he’ll let you know immediately.”

“... Yup. That’d be the main problem here.”

“Like Sato would ever hurt you”, Rhodey murmurs with an eye roll as he plucks the scanner from Tony’s hands, and then he walks back towards the mattress, “and he won’t hurt me, either. Here, watch this!”

Tony does watch as his friend falls back onto the mattress and scoots over, nudging the wolf with his foot so that the giant animal turns to look at him. He smiles, pets the back of the big snout and then pulls put the scanner.

“Hey, buddy. Would you look at that for me for a second?”

Sato does just that, sniffing interestedly at Rhodey’s outstretched hand as he wags his tail again.

**Thump thump. Thump thump thump thump. Thump thump thump. Thump thump thump.**

“Tony build that, you know? So, there’s no reason to be scared. At least this time, I’m pretty sure.”

“Hey, I heard that!”

“Yeah, you were supposed to.”

The engineer rolls his eyes as he makes his way over, swearing that he’ll soon find a way to keep those two from conspiring against him. He’s pretty sure Sato would be loyal, but there’s no way to say how he’ll react if Rhodey decides to bring in the big guns - And starts bribing him with pizza. All bets will be off, then.

When he sits down next to Rhodey, Sato has apparently lost interest in the scanner, and turns towards Tony again. It’s an automatic reaction to lean over and pet his head, smiling when Sato immediately starts to rumble contently as he closes his eyes and rests on Tony’s lap.

“See? He doesn’t care!”

“Yeah. Now. When that thing is in your hand, and not attached to a collar and wrapped around his neck!”

The wolf blinks at that, but he doesn’t seem too distressed, easily closing his eyes once again when Tony scratches one of his favorite spots. He’s gotten pretty good at finding and using those. Not much longer, and then he’ll officially add “wolf-whisperer” to his resume.

“Nah, Rhodey, I really don’t think we’re there yet.”

“Tell that the super relaxed wolf in your lap.”

“Doesn’t mean he’ll stay that way.”

“You haven’t even tried yet.”

“Yeah, and I won’t, at least not right now. We’ve been fine so far, and he barely leaves my side, anyway, even on the beach--”

“EXCUSE ME, WHAT THE FUCK?!?”

“Oh, yeah, you didn’t know about that yet. Uh, I may or may not have taken Sato outside once. Or twice. Or about ten times, let’s be real here. Pretty much every night for the last two weeks. Surprise?”

Rhodey looks about ready to explode, and Tony can’t really blame him. The first time he took the wolf outside, Sato decided to go for an impromptu walk and _vanished_ , which resulted in Tony losing his shit and panicking until they found him. It wasn’t the best day, to say the least.

“Tony, please tell me you’re fucking _kidding me right now_!”

“Sure, if that’ll make you feel better--”

“We TALKED about this!”, Rhodey groans as he buries his head in his hands, “I TOLD you that you could NOT TAKE THE GIANT WOLF OUTSIDE AGAIN!”

“Yeah, I remember that, too.”

“And then you went and DID JUST THAT!”

“You make it sound like I didn’t think this through at all”, Tony returns with a small grin, “but it’s really no big deal! We only go out at night, and never all that far. We’ve never even left the beach! And he never leaves my side, sticks really close, actually. Oh, and I no longer get drunk outside, either. No risk of him running off at all!”

“Really? And what would you do if he decided to run off, anyway? Do you even have any way of stopping him if he just makes a run for it, huh?”

“Uh...”

“That’s what I thought! That’s why I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO JUST THAT!”

“See, we keep circling around the same topic. We’ve already established that you told me not to take him outside again, and we’ve established that I - Surprise, surprise! - didn’t listen, and did it anyway--”

“ _Tony_...”, and he knows that special tone of voice, and it’s telling him to stop playing around and offer Rhodey a few very good reason not murder him right here and now.

“Okay, okay, I know it’s dangerous! But he’s a good wolf, and I’ve been working on some... Commands.”

That has Rhodey blinking again, and for a moment he seems too surprised to be angry. Tony sees his chance and barrels on.

“Like, I’ve been telling him to wait before devouring his dinner, and to go to his place - To the mattress, but whatever - and to come closer, too. He’s great! I mean, he’s learning really fast, and- And he’s never tried to get away from me so far, isn’t even all that interested in anything else but me- Yeah, I know you wanna be a smartass right now, but can it, okay? Honestly, I wouldn’t risk it if I wasn’t sure he’d stay with me.”

His friend is looking at him like he seriously considers calling for someone professional to deal with Tony’s apparent insanity, and that’s just unfair! Yeah, he might have taken a risk the first and second time he took his wolf outside, but after that? Hell, he wouldn’t have done that if there was even the slightest- Well, a _moderate_ chance that Sato would run off and do whatever giant wolves do if they... Ugh, this is too complicated to think through, his point still stands!

“I mean, he’s still here, right?”

“... And I’m supposed to be amazed by that fact?”

“Well... Yeah?”, Tony offers with a slightly nervous smile, “considering that he’s a giant wolf no one has ever encountered before, I’d say that’s still a pretty big achievement!”

Rhodey looks about ready to strangle someone (possibly Tony, for lack of another option), so he doesn’t add about how they’ve also encountered that mangy street cat several times by now, and Sato hasn’t even _tried_ to kill it (same can’t be said for the cat, crazy fucking beast), or how the wolf seems to really enjoy playing in the shallow water, or anything else that’ll make him sound less like a responsible genius and more like a softened wolf owner, talking about his cutie-pie with hearts in his eyes. That probably won’t do him any good right now.

“Tones, you can’t--”

“He won’t do anything!”

“You can’t _know_ \--”

“Yes, I do! He’s really well behaved, and he always stays by my side!”

“Until one day he’ll--”

“He’s never hurt anyone!”

“Except for the time he attacked the two of us!”

“Oh, you’re really gonna use that against him?”, Tony groans he falls back onto the mattress, dragging Sato with him until the big wolf is sprawled on top of his chest and stomach, “he was just scared because of the suits! And that’s not even an issue anymore, I tried it out!”

“You _tried it out_ , what the hell--”

“He’s got it now, he’s no longer scared of them! And yeah, we did a few more experiments, sue me!”

Rhodey might just do that, if he didn’t know from experience that Tony has the best lawyers money can buy, and that there’s just no way to win a battle like that. Instead, he lets out a deep sigh and shakes his head.

“Forget it. You wanna risk yours and Sato’s life? Fine, do that! But don’t come running to me when something inevitably goes wrong! I’ve warned you many times, I’m done doing that now!”

With that, he gets back up to his feet and stretches his arms over his head. Tony watches him as he turns back to look at the two of them sprawled out on the mattress, and once again resists the urge to stick out his tongue.

“I’m gonna head out now. You keep- Keep on doing whatever you feel like doing, since there’s no way to stop you, anyway. Just make sure to not take any stupid risks, because while I do like you in a way, I think I like that wolf way more already. So make sure he’ll be alright!”

As he says that, he leans over to scratch behind Sato’s fluffly ears, which earns him happy rumbling sound, a wagging tail and a rough tongue licking over his entire face. Tony chuckles at his friend’s disgusted face, but of course, Rhodey is too nice to actually chastise Sato, so he only pushes the wolf away and wipes his face clean with his hand.

“Great. I’m gonna go now. You make sure to eat something, feed your wolf and _don’t stay up all night again_ , you hear me?”

“Yes, mum!”

“And make sure to call me if anything else happens, alright?”

“I’m gonna send you some pictures of our walk later on!”

That earns him an exasperated eye roll and a tired head shake, but Rhodey is too smart to keep on arguing, so he only turns around and walks back towards the (still blackened) glass door. Sato watches after him, whining lowly when he grabs the doorhandle - And a loud, shrill alarm tone sounds throughout the lab.

“TONY!”

“YAY, IT WORKS!”, Tony grins as he hold onto Sato’s scruff (the wolf doesn’t really like that sound, after all, but it’s kinda necessary), “ALRIGHT, JARVIS, SILENCE!”

The alarm stops a moment later, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Still grinning to himself, the engineer pulls his phone from his pocket and scrolls through the messages he has received in the last few seconds - All from JARVIS, detailing what happened, sending over security footage and offering a variety of actions they could take now.

“Was that really necessary?”

“Uh, yeah? Totally! Now we know that it works!”

He can hear Rhodey muttering a few curses under his breath, but he only waves distractedly, and a few moments later, his friend is already gone. Humming to himself, he settles into the mattress a little more comfortably, while Sato huffs a slightly grumpy breath and drops his head in his lap again.

“That went well, huh? I think we’re all set for the next few weeks! You agree?”

The wolf woofs and nudges his hand until he starts petting again as he analyzes how his blackout mode worked during those few seconds it got activated. Yeah, that all looks pretty much perfect. And it’ll make his life even easier, since he’s effectively made it almost impossible to enter the lab without his explicit permission. He has also given JARVIS a few new protocols to work with, should any or all of these safety measures fail.

“No one’s gonna bother you down here”, he murmurs leaning to his side, pressing a kiss to the wolf’s wet nose, “other than me, of course. But I’m not bothering you, right? You like me, don’t you?”

Sato yips and lifts his head up to lick at Tony’s chin and cheeks, nuzzling into his neck. It’s a pretty clear answer, and the engineer takes a moment to wrap both arms around the wolf’s neck and squeeze him close. Yeah, okay. Rhodey might’ve have admitted that he’s actually come to like Sato (and _that’s_ an achievement for sure!), Tony is ready to admit that he kinda loves the big puppy. Kind of a lot, to be honest.

“But don’t tell anyone, okay? That I love you, I mean. Keep that to yourself, you hear me?”

The wolf shudders under him as he presses closer, head resting against Tony’s chest, against the arc reactor as he lets out a deep, rumbling sound that vibrates through both of their bodies. Tony takes a deep breath as he buries his head in the wolf’s soft fur and presses a kiss to the animal’s forehead. Yeah, this one will keep his mouth shut, and no one needs to know, anyway. As long as Sato knows, everything’s okay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, very much interested in what you think about it ^^
> 
> Love,  
> Goldie

_Running, he’s running. Breath ragged and lungs filled with cold, salty water. Paws thundering through the sand as he forces himself to go faster, as he can hear their voices calling out for him. It’s dark, it’s cold, and he’s all alone. He’s lost and alone and scared, he’s so scared he can barely breathe._

_His heart is pounding in his chest, painfully thudding against his ribs as he coughs and coughs and gags until blood starts pouring down his chest and splutters through his snout. He feels sick, sicker than he’s ever felt before, and he knows that he can’t keep going, that he will collapse sooner rather than later as he struggles through- Water? Snow, ice? He is no longer sure. He is cold, and he wonders about the ice crawling through his mind, since it’s been so long since he last saw snow, so long, so long... Father, father took him into the ice, right? And they played... They always played..._

_An arrow whizzes by, the next once impales him, makes him stumble and fall, fall down into the darkness. Searing pain grows in his body, in his mind, and he cries out for help. But no sound drips from his mouth, nothing to hear for anyone willing to come to his rescue. His eyes drift through the darkness, looking for something- For the stars! Yes, he’s looking for the stars! The stars will guide him home... Home? Where is home, anymore? He wonders as he falls, and then he crashes into ashes._

_Coughing, he struggles up onto his paws and stares onto the ground. It’s gone, all gone, turned into ashes, and the chains slither through the smoke and pull on his legs as he sniffs the air. He knows, he knows that smell... That magic, curling through the cool mist, brushing against his fur and crawling into his mind, calling and tugging and-- But there are more voices, and he whines in fear, turning and running away, because they are looking for him, and he knows they won’t have mercy._

_The stars are bright and loud, pounding against his skull as he races through the desert, the sun beating down and making him pant. His mouth is dry, tongue swollen and he comes to halt in the blazing sand. Eyes drifting through the cracking heat, he wonders what he’s looking for. But he knows, he knows he’s looking for someone... The ice was lonely, he didn’t find anyone there, but here, here he has to, he knows, he needs to-- And there it is._

_A lone figure stumbling through the desert. He can smell blood and fear and exhaustion and desperation, and he lets out a high bark. The figure turns, ever so slightly, and hesitantly waves a hand. There he is, there he is, and he needs, he needs-- And he’s running again, as arrows rain down at the two of them, and jumps, lunges at the man and presses him down into the hot sand, and then it’s all gone again._

_He can hear them talking. The old King, and someone else. He tries to shut his ears, but he knows what they’re talking about. It’s the völva, telling the old king that the wolf will bring his death and sorrow, and the King will listen, and then he will call for his guards and tell them to drag the wolf away. Father will try to save him, of course he will, but he won’t succeed. He knows, and he remembers, and he doesn’t want to hear it for any second longer. Turning, he runs away, through the golden halls he always wished he could call home. People wash around him, hissing and growling whenever he comes too close as he stumbles through their light and their anger and their fear. He cries out when their claws cut through his skin, and then he turns a corner and comes to a halt._

_It’s a grand room, golden and shining, and he takes a deep breath as he watches the scene unfold. There the old King lies, in his big, golden bed, and he is sleeping peacefully. The Queen is bent over his prone form, crying softly as the guards watch on, and the wolf lets out a confused whine. He doesn’t understand... But he does, at the same time, in some way he understands, he knows, but he doesn’t know how... And then the Queen turns. Her wet, clear eyes focus on him, and he can hear her gasp as the guards fall forward, running to her side as she shudders and blinks a few times, as if she’s not sure of what she sees... But he turns and runs off, because the guards will see him any moment, and then the Queen will order her dogs to tear him apart, and he doesn’t want to die! He wants to live, and not end up as trophy over the King’s throne, he wants to run and be free and--_

_Father! He wants his father--_

_But father is gone, he’s far away, and every time he blinks, he sees stars and moons and planets, whole realms rush by through the endless darkness of the universe. Every breath brings new words, new sentences, and he watches himself tumbling through the tall grass as a young pup, sees the first time he swam in the cold lake hidden away in his favorite forest, remembers every night spent under the stars through his father’s eyes, but why? Why does remember? Why now? And where? But there are no answers, only love and pain, twisting and mixing, warming him against a brutal cold he has never felt before, neither of them have, and he wonders, he wonders and worries and fears as he feels a black hole open in his chest, pulling at his every thought, all falling through his mind, like’s falling through the endless universe... No, not him. His father? But why? Why is he falling..._

_Warm. He feels warm, and the fear is ebbing away, if only just a little. The cold that’s seeped into his bones melts away just a bit, until he’s no longer shaking, but just trembling ever so slightly. The wolf groans, in pain and in fear, because it’s still dark, and he doesn’t know where he is. He knows what he was looking for- What his father was looking for, but if he found it-- If he found it, he is all the more terrified, scared and lost and desperate._

Sato...

_Is that his name? Sato? It sounds familiar, but it doesn’t at the same time. He is confused, lets out a whine, and the voice returns._

Sato...

_He is Sato... Or is he? There was another name, once, but he feels like he lost it, somewhere far away... On an island, maybe? And the heather..._

Sato... Wake up...

_Something- Someone is touching him. A warm, gentle, familiar hand carding through his fur as he lets out a whimper. He is scared, even if the voice is near. Lost and confused. No more stars to guide him home... And where is home, anyway? It’s not an island in the shallow sea. It’s not the forest on the palace’s border. It’s always been... Not a place... But the person is gone, too... Where is he?_

C’mon, buddy, wake up!

_He frowns, grumbles, too scared to open his eyes. He doesn’t want to see where he is, scared of what he might come to find. But the hand is gripping his fur tightly now, and he can feel his mind struggling towards the light._

Hey, easy, wolfie! It’s okay, you’re okay! Nothing bad happening...

_How do you know?, he wants to ask, how would know, if you’ve never seen the old King’s rage, the black ice of another realm, the endless chaos of the universe, how yould you--_

Just a nightmare, buddy. Come on, open your pretty eyes... I’m right here, and I promise: Nothing bad’s gonna happen to you.

_But he trusts him, he trusts him with all of his heart, and he wants to follow his voice, wants to find warmth and protection and love... With a high pitched whine, he pushes against the darkness and forces his eyes to blink open--_

“There you are, buddy.”

It takes Sato a moment to remember, but then he feels relief wash through his trembling body. He is in the lab, head pillowed on Tony’s lap, who’s looking at him with wide, concerned eyes. He is safe, for the moment, he is protected and sheltered, and he’s not alone--

And then his heart breaks, from fear and anger and desperation. Letting out a long, sorrowful wail he pushes forwards, pressing his head against the man’s chest, against the soft humming that’s been his tether to this world, begging for some mercy as his thoughts spin in his head and make him dizzy.

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s all good! Jeez, must’ve been one hell of a nightmare, huh? You scared, puppy? You don’t have to be. It’s all over now...”

Sato listens to Tony’s soft voice, shushing and cooing as he cards both hands through his fur and listens to the soft humming, both sounds drowning out the cold, sharp terror crawling through his mind. The fear won’t melt away completely, it won’t leave his heart, but it calms until he relaxes with a shuddering breath and allows his eyes to slip shut once again.


	5. Chapter 5

Tony makes sure to stay awake for another hour as he watches over the wolf. Nightmares... He fucking hates nightmares. And he hates watching his wolf have a nightmare, too. The whining, whimpering, and those painfully distressed wails - It tugs at his heartstrings and makes him want to cry himself. So, just to make sure they’re done with that for the night, he stays awake even after Sato has slipped back into unconciousness once again. Just to be sure. No reason to take any risks when it comes to stuff like this.

It’s been happening more and more recently, and that worries him a lot. In the beginning, it was only Sato waking him up when he noticed he was struggling, but oh how the tables have turned... By now, he wakes up to the sound of low, distressed whining every other night, and even though he has learned how to respond and wake the animal up (pretty much like he’d like to be woken up himself, but there’s no reason anyone needs to know that particular fact), it all makes him feel a little helpless. Because how is he supposed to find a solution for something he’s still struggling with himself? There’s no gadget he needs to put together that’ll somehow cure the wolf of-- But, come think of it, maybe there is...That’s enough to get him thinking again, because if he’s found a way to decode Sato’s communication patterns, why shouldn’t this be possible, too? All he needs to do is record some of those spikes he’s sure to get whenever the wolf has a nightmare, and then find a way to wake him up--

_Sir, Miss Potts is asking if you are awake and would be available for a short conversation?_

JARVIS’s voice makes him blink a few times as he feels his heart squeeze painfully. Sato grumbles above him, and he tries his best to calm down, because they surely don’t need a distressed wolf on top of a distressed engineer.

“Uh, any idea what she might want?”, he murmurs as he rubs a hand over his burning eyes and struggles upright (as much as he’s able to, with Sato’s heavy head on his chest and stomach), “since it’s kinda late--”

_Considering the time difference between Malibu and the Seychelles--_

“Oh, fuck. Yeah, completely forget. Put her through.”

JARVIS seems to hesitate for just a second, and it can’t be a good sign if even his AI is starting to doubt his ability to deal with a _phone call_ , for crying out loud! But then the moment passes and Pepper’s warm, soft voice floats through the lab.

“Good evening, Tony.”

“Hey, Pepper”, he replies with a forced cheerfulness, “how are you doing? The beach still boring?”

She chuckles softly at that, and Tony is willing to take that as a good sign. She hasn’t decapitated him yet, so maybe there’s still some hope left.

“Yes, it is. Which is part of the reason why I’m calling.”

“Oh yeah? Want to tell me you wanna relocate for a few more weeks? I’ve got suggestions, if you need them.”

“No, but thanks for the offer. I just wanted to let you know that I will be back by tomorrow evening.”

And wow, that’s a little- Surprising.

“Uh, cool! You want me to pick you up, or...?”

“No, no, I should be fine talking a cab. But maybe we could meet over the next couple of days and... Talk?”

“Yeah, of course, of course. Just, uh, just let me know whenever you’ve got time- Or you could always come over”, and he could kick himself as he says that, because that’s the worst possible offer he could’ve made, “you sure about that ride, though? I could totally just come by and--”

“No, Tony. I’ll take a cab. I think that’ll be better.”

“Okay. Okay, if you’re sure.”

“I am. I’ll call you in a day or two, and then we can arrange a time and place?”

It sounds like she’s scheduling a business meeting, and that makes something hard and cold settle in his stomach. He doesn’t like how any of this sounds, and he wants to just open his mouth and ask her what she’s really thinking about, if she’s just planning to break up with him personally, and then he wants to tell her how sorry he is for all of this shit--

But his lips feel like they’re glued together, and then he’s talking again, anyway, saying anything but what he really needs to get off his chest.

“Sounds good. Just call whenever you’ve decided. Oh, you want me to tell Happy to come pick you up?”

“He’s back already?”

“Uhm... No, now that you say that.”

He’s sent his head of security to a month long vacation - On Bali (because he kinda needed his space and argued that the suits would keep him safe for the time being, and then he was already shoving his driver out of the door and towards the car he’d prepared beforehand). Happy had looked anything but _happy_ , because that’s just so not his cup of tea, but he went, anyway, grumbling his thanks and at the same time cursing Tony’s existence and the fact that he owns a rather nice house there. He should be back in a few days as well, and Tony is really looking forward to all the lobster jokes he’ll be making in the foreseeable future.

“Then I’ll take a cab. And I’ll call you in a day or two.”

“Cool. Talk to you then.”

“Goodnight, Tony.”

“Night, Pepper.”

The call ends, and Tony is left in silence, which is only punctured by Sato’s deep, even breathing, and the slow, strong heartbeat thudding against his own chest. It doesn’t feel all that good. Pepper will be back in just a few hours, and then they’ll finally have that dreaded talk. Great, just awesome, really, really fucking awesome... He groans as he lets himself fall back onto the mattress again, dragging both hands through his messy hair. He’s already tired of all of this, and they haven’t even talked for longer than a few minutes! God, what is happening to him?

Tony startles back into the present when a cold, wet nose nuzzles against his neck. Lifting his head slightly, his eyes meet Sato’s golden ones, watching him with a concerned expression.

“Hey, buddy. Got great news: We’ll have to put those new inventions of mine to a test really soon. You excited about that?”

The wolf doesn’t react, only leans forward as he gently nudges Tony’s hands and whines lowly. Great, now he woke his wolf up again. All because he can’t keep his emotions in check, and panics the moment anything even close to serious happens in any of his relationships. Namely the one with Pepper. Because that woman, god that woman... She’s everything he’s ever dreamed of, and that can’t mean anything good. She’s just- Perfect. And he’s- Well, he’s a mess. And there’s no way he won’t end up fucking things over sooner or later.

Sighing, he pushes the wolf’s head to the side and curls into himself, smiling just a little bit when the big puppy grumbles unhappily as he rearranges himself, resting his head in the curve of Tony’s body. As usual, he positions himself so that he can watch the man’s face closely, as if he wants to make sure that the engineer won’t simply disappear. Tony rolls his eyes as he reaches over and gently drags his fingers up and down the back of the wolf’s snout. What a strange creature. Looking into those warm, almost shining golden-brown orbs, he remembers something.

“Had a bad dream myself, tonight. About Afghanistan. ‘Bout the desert, to be precise. Was walking through the sand, and the heat... And then I looked up, and you were there. That actually woke me up, by the way. Wanna tell me something? What are you doing in my dreams, huh, wolfie?”

Sato blinks a few times, but he doesn’t answer, which is just as well. Tony frowns when he feels his phone vibrating, and picks it back up from the mattress. A message from JARVIS, telling him that Sato is calling out to him, pretty much right this moment. The attached graphs show a rather impressive spike, and Tony frowns at that.

“Hey, what’s this all about, hm? I’m right here, don’t you see? No reason to call for me!”

He drags his hand up and the wolf’s head again, and the big animal leans into the touch. Since there are no more messages, he’s apparently succeeded in calming him down again. Good, that’s good. No need for a distressed wolf again. Especially since Tony feels a little shaky and jittery himself, so it’s good to have a warm, familiar presence to focus on. Sato is- He’s great for shit like that, actually.

But tonight, even his big, heavy body resting right next to Tony can’t completely expel those dark thoughts and worries, and so he spends the last few hours until sunrise lying awake, petting Sato’s soft fur as the wolf sleeps peacefully.

_Sir, Sato seems to be rather distressed. I believe an intervention on your part is needed, or else I will be forced to activate blackout mode._

“Wha- What the fuck?”, Tony grumbles as he struggles upright and looks around blearily.

It doesn’t take long to understand what’s going on. Sato has left his side, and he’s standing right at the lab’s door. Other than usual, he’s not relaxed or content, but distressed is also the wrong word. _Furious_ , is more like it. Hackles raised, lips pulled back and teeth bared he’s growling at- Something? Or nothing, really, because there’s no one there, but that doesn’t really matter, since the whole room is shaking with the angry sound he’s making.

“Shit shit shit shit shit!”, Tony mutters as he jumps to his feet and runs towards his wolfie, “hey, what’s- what’s the matter, HEY! Watch it!”

The wolf doesn’t turn, doesn’t even bother to turn around as his ears flatten against his head and he lowers his head just a little more. When Tony tries to walk towards the door, Sato lets out a bark and pushes him back roughly, stepping around to cover the man with his body again. The engineer huffs an annoyed breath, walking around the wolf’s other side, hand carding through the soft fur as he makes his way towards the head. Again, he gets pushed back with an impatient bark, this time sending him stumbling a few steps back.

“HEY! The fuck is wrong with you?”, he grumbles as he straightens himself back up, “got your fur in a twist? That’s no way to behave!”

_Actually, sir, Agent Coulson is at the front door, asking to be let in._

“WHAT THE FUCK?!?”, Tony yells as he feels his eyes widen, “WHY THE MOTHERFUCKING HELL DIDN’T YOU TELL ME???”

_I was under the impression--_

“FORGET IT, we don’t have time for that now! Shit, uh, okay, here’s what we’re gonna do: Activate blackout mode, right the fuck now!”

_Certainly, sir._

The glass walls turn black, the lights dim, and he knows that Sato’s loud growling won’t be heard all that clearly in the living room, at the very least. Okay, that’s better already. Next, he turns towards the wolf and pushes roughly at his side.

“HEY! EYES ON ME!”

That works. Sato stops growling for jsut a few seconds and turns towards him. His golden eyes seem to be glowing, but there’s not only anger, but also a lot of fear. Which isn’t good, because Tony already has a lot to deal with, so he’ll have to hurry along.

“Stop that, right now! No growling, none of that _I’m a big bad wolf_ bullshit, understood?”

He gets a confused whine as answer, and okay, he kinda gets it. Weird guy at the door, and the wolf is probably just trying to protect him. Which is sweet, but not really helpful right now. So, while it does kinda warm his heart, it also stresses him out more than it helps.

“I know you’re scared, but there’s no reason for that. I’m gonna go upstairs real quick- Okay, yeah, no, no, no, don’t worry, I’ll be fine, you hear me? We’re all gonna be just fine”, he mutters when the wolf whimpers and presses close, nuzzling against the arc reactor, and his phone starts vibrating again, “just gonna go upstairs, tell Coulson to get the fuck off my property, and then I’ll come right back to you and nothing bad will happen, alright?”

Sato whines again, and Tony sighs as those big, fearful eyes gaze up at him, because how is he going to explain that to a fucking wolf? The animal only knows that there’s a stranger at the door, that Tony is worries/ distressed, and now he’s trying to protect - Only to realize that that’s not appreciated in any way. The day is not starting out so great. With another deep sigh, he grabs the wolf’s big head and looks deeply into his eyes.

“ _Trust me_ , okay? Just five minutes, maybe ten, and then I’ll be back. Nothing bad will happen to you. Nothing bad will happen to me. Five to ten minutes, then I’ll be back.”

It takes a few moments, but finally the wolf lets out a breath and his eyes slip closed. Tony can feel some of the tension leave Sato’s body as he scratches one of his cheeks, and that’s about as good as it’s going to get. With a slightly forced smile he pet’s the wolf’s head once again before stepping back and slowly walking around towards the door. Sato’s eyes follow him, and he keeps on making those distressed whining sounds, but Tony only grins and waves at him.

“Five minutes, okay? Just stay here, and keep quiet! I’ll be back before you know it!”

With that, he quickly opens the lab door and slips through, closing it behind himself. Taking another deep breath he starts walking up the stairs, already dreading what’s about to come.

“JARVIS, keep an eye on Sato. Alert me if anything happens, but make sure to use those codes we agreed on. Keep the suit ready, just in case Coulson wants to really try my patience.”

_Of course, sir. Would you like for me to contact Colonel Rhodes as well?_

“Uh, yeah, you do that. Don’t tell him to come over just yet, but to be ready. If bad comes to worse, we might need the extra man power.”

He has reached his the front door by now, and can see Coulson waiting just behind it. Already he feels annoyance and a bit of anger curl in his body, but he does his best to push it down. Five minutes, this won’t take much longer than five minutes. Pulling the door open, he makes sure to not hide any of his rather negative emotions, because Coulson should know he’s not welcome at all here.

“Ah, look who it is! The person I was hoping I’d never see again on my doorstep. Must be karma again.”

“Mr. Stark”, the agent replies as he takes off his sunglasses, “good to see you again.”

“Yeah, can’t say the same. Any reason you’ve entered private property without my explicit permission?”

“We only wanted to ask you a few questions concerning your most recent activities. Can I come in?”

“Not in a million years. What activities are we talking about?”, Tony asks as he crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the door frame, “because I don’t remember asking for a private Mister Smith as my babysitter, yet you’re here, and I can’t say I’m overjoyed.”

“We’ve noticed a few rather interesting transactions you’ve made this month. Just wanted to check in--”

“So you’ve gone through my bank information? My _private_ bank information?”

“No, we haven’t. But maybe we should have”, and Tony wants to smack himself, after punching the stupid grin right off Coulson’s face, because that was an amateur mistake right fucking there, “if there’s anything to find there?”

“Nothing but tons of legal work I’ll be more than happy to dump on your secret boy scouts.”

“The reason I’m here is actually a notification I received from one of my contacts. Apparently you rented a moving truck not too long ago. Would you mind telling me what you needed it for?”

Tony raises his eyebrows as he shifts just a little and then makes sure to talk extra slowly, as if talking to someone really, really stupid.

“For. Moving. Stuff.”

“And why would you move anything to or from Corral Canyon Park?”

Tony resists the urge to start screaming, because there’s no way Coulson should know any of this, and that worries him. Another problem he’ll have to work on - The moment he gets rid of that piece of shit right in front of him.

“None of your goddamned business”, he growls instead of throwing a punch, “and I thought we were kind of done, since you didn’t want me in your boy band for weirdos. Why the sudden interest?”

“We are still keeping an eye on you, of course. You are a dangerous man, after all, Mr. Stark, and we like to be informed if something strange seems to be going on in your life.”

“Good thing you’re not committing crimes by spying on me, then.”

Coulson ignores him, and has the audacity to actually push him aside, walking into the living room. Tony bristles, and he hurries after him. Listening closely, he breathes a silent sigh of relief, because there’s no sound to be heard. Either Sato is staying quiet, or the blackout mode is working better than expected.

“Hey, you think you could leave my property willingly, or do I have to put on the suit and kick your ass into the ocean?”

“What kind of transactions were you talking about just a few moments ago?”, Coulson asks without reacting to his question/ offer, “anything we would be interested in?”

“Of course.”

“But you’re not going to tell me.”

“Your deductive skills amaze me. Please use them to realize that I wish for nothing more than your immediate vanishing, and then make that wish come true.”

“What are you currently working on?”

“A machine that will kick your ass into the ocean for me”, Tony replies with a cheerful grin, “wanna try it out? I’ve been looking for a willing subject!”

_Sir? Project Ruff Stuff is showing signs of overheating._

Great. Meaning that Sato is currently stressing out. Just a few moments later, a low rumbling sound vibrates through the walls. It’s nowhere near as loud as it would’ve been without the blackout mode, but it’s still noticeable. Coulson is raising his eyebrows as well, which is just superb.

“Your newest project?”

“Yeah, the ass kicking machine. Still not working properly, but if you’re willing to help out, we might just get it right.”

“Well, I’d love to take a look.”

“And I’d love for you to not get a single step closer to my lab. Which one of us is more likely to get what they want, hm?”

Coulson smiles again, and Tony hopes that there--

_Project Ruff Stuff is currently overheated and is in immediate need to decompression._

So the wolf is just about ready to lose his shit. Tony curses under his breath and takes a step forward when Coulson attempts to walk towards the stairs leading down to the lab, putting a hand on the man’s chest.

“Sounds like one of your inventions is giving you some trouble.”

“Again: Amazing deduction. Ever thought about using that to become something useful?”, Tony mutters as he pushes Coulson back a few steps, “and I’m telling you one time, and one time only: Back off. Or I’ll call for the suit.”

“Are you sure that’s the best cause of action?”

“If it’ll help me get rid of you - Yes.”

“Then you really haven’t learned anything from working with us”, the agent answers with a grin, “if you really believe that that’d be the end of your troubles. Trust me, it’d only get worse.”

“I’m willing to risk that, you slimey piece of--”

_Sir, Colonel Rhodes is on his way over. He is wearing the War Machine suit and ready to engage._

Coulson tenses at that, and Tony can’t help but feel relieved. Apparently the agent was counting on the fact that he wouldn’t dare touch him, since he Tony’s technically only a civilian. Getting the army involved seems to be a little too much trouble even for someone like him, and that’s Tony’s advantage.

“Then I’ll better take my leave for now.”

“Yeah, you better.”

“Seems like your wish comes trues. Please send my regards to the good Colonel. Oh, and let him know that we’re well aware of the fact that he was the one receiving the truck that day. And that we hope he knows what he’s getting himself into...”

“Leave my property. Right the fuck now. Or I’ll blast you through that wall right over there, and call your minions to mop up whatever will be left of you”, Tony growls, but Coulson only shrugs as he turns around and walks towards the front door.

The engineer watches as he leaves, pulling the door closed behind himself. The moment it falls shut, he whips around and starts running towards the lab. Sato’s growling is getting a little quieter now, but when he pushes the lab door open, a high pitched whining makes him wince, because holy shit that’s loud!

Before he can even utter a single word, the big wolf is on top of him, pressing against his chest and actually pushing him to the floor. Tony knows better than to fight back, so he just lays back and allows Sato to sniff his entire body, nipping at his clothes a few times, before he then proceeds to lick his hands, face and neck.

“You alright, buddy?”, he murmurs with a grimace as the wet, rough tongue drags over his entire face, “told I’d be back soon, though, and I kept my promise! You happy now?”

The wolf doesn’t seem to be happy, more extremely relieved and completely absorbed in the act of covering Tony in his slobber, making sure the engineer is unharmed and actually safe. Again, the engineer just sighs and lets his head fall back as the big animal checks him over several times, allowing his racing heart to slow down and his mind to clear itself. When Sato has calmed down just a bit as well, he slowly gets back up and walks over to his workstation. The wolf follows him, hobbling on his three available paws as the engineer grabs the nearest tablet and starts typing on the screen.

“JARVIS, we need to find a way to keep those fuckers out of our business. I don’t care how we do it, but we cannot have them anywhere close to any of my transactions, or surveillance footage - I don’t care. Just make it happen. I’m gonna try and add a few new security features a little later on, maybe try and hack into one of their data bases for a change.”

_Of course, sir. Would you like for me to tell Colonel Rhodes that his assistance is no longer needed?_

“What, that wasn’t a lie?”

_No, sir. I thought it better to be safe rather than sorry, and informed the Colonel of your situation._

“Okay... Okay, then tell him that we’re good for now. And I promise I’ll call him later on, I think we’ve got some things to talk about.”

JARVIS does just that, and Tony sits down at his desk, scrolling through some of his programs, trying to come up with a few ideas to keep nosey boy scouts out of his business. His firewalls and security features are the best there is, but apparently that’s not enough. Frowning, he starts running a few ideas through his head, and then he startles when Sato’s snout nudges his foot. With an exasperated sigh, he gets up from the chair, taking a seat on the floor instead, so that the wolf can press against his side, resting his head in Tony’s lap. It makes handling the tablet a little more difficult, but he can live with that struggle. Carding one hand through the soft fur behind the wolf’s head, he leans back against his desk and gets to work.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta admit, I've come to really like Sato's point of view and the perspective it offers! Hope you feel the same ^^
> 
> Enjoy, and lemme know what you think!
> 
> Love,  
> Goldie

Tony is nervous. Sato doesn’t like it.

The salt water smells bitter and sharp tonight. The stars are hidden behind a thick, grey blanket of clouds, and Tony has his hands buried in his pockets, staring to the ground. Sato doesn’t like it. He hates it, he really does. Tony is not... He worries, the wolf knows that, he often does. But this is new, and it scares Sato. Still he doesn’t know what to do, so he stays quiet as he trots beside the thoughtful man as they slowly make their way along the beach. He listens to the small waves crashing at the shore, to the cool wind ruffling his fur, and the sound of Tony’s quiet muttering. There are no words for him to make it better, but he doesn’t really need to. He understands distress and worry and that low, buzzing kind of fear that claws at your bones and makes you weak and slow.

Tonight, they don’t play. Tony doesn’t jump into the cold water, and Sato doesn’t splash water at him, and they don’t wrestle in the soft sand. They are just quiet, and the wolf wishes for the man to laugh and joke and smile again. He doesn’t, though, and Sato suppresses the urge to whine and wail and beg for attention and an explanation, because he can’t help Tony if there’s no way for him to know what problem he’s facing. Sato is helpless, and it’s a feeling he’s very familiar with, and one he hates with all of his existence. And Tony stays quiet as they walk further and further away from- Home? The house he’s come to feel safe in, and he wonders if the man is even aware of that fact. He has told the wolf many times that he is not allowed to run away, to leave Tony’s property under any circumstances, so why are they walking further than ever before tonight? Sato is confused, scared and comes to halt. Tony keeps on walking, and for a moment he’s worried that the man will simply keep on walking, further and further away, until he has vanished into the black ocean to never be seen again. It draws a whine from deep within his body, and that’s what finally pulls Tony from his undoubtedly dark musings. After a few seconds, he turns around and cocks his head, looking at Sato.

“What’s the matter, buddy? Tired already?”

Yes, Sato does feel tired, but that’s not the reason he has stopped. Whining, he nods his head back towards the house. There are lights dancing over the cliff, like beacons guiding them back, and the wolf can’t help but think of stars and the way back home. Tonight, it should be easy to find their ways back. If only Tony would stop walking.

“Huh, didn’t even notice we’re already this far”, the man mutters as he drags a hand through his hair, rubbing the back of his neck, “yeah, guess it’s time for a break. Mind if we sit down here for a few minutes?”

Sato wouldn’t know how to tell him if he didn’t agree, so he only huffs a breath and settles down in the soft sand. Tony walks over and falls down heavily, leaning back against Sato’s flank, resting his back there. It makes the wolf feel better, if only slightly, and he concentrates on the warmth, the calm breathing and heartbeat, and the soft hum that fills his ears and makes the world slip away just a little bit. Things are changing, he knows. It scares him, because change hardly ever brought him peace and happiness, so he feels his heart tremble at the mere thought.

“You okay back there? You seems a little nervous”, Tony murmurs as he reaches back, brushing a hand through Sato’s fur, and the wolf lets out a deep sigh, “don’t worry, no one’s around. And JARVIS is keeping an eye out, too. He’ll let me know if we need to leave.”

Sato rumbles and curls a little tighter around Tony, because there’s something in his mind, in his bones that tells him to cover as much of the fragile body as he can manage. It earns him a quiet chuckle, and he wishes he could drown in that sound and forget about the fluttering heart underneath the sweet, gentle hum. But things are never that easy, and he knows that all too well. Another thing that scares him.

“‘M not feeling too good myself. But I guess you already know that, with those freaking senses of yours. ‘S kinda awesome, actually, but uh- Sorry, I guess. I know I’m not the easiest to be around.”

Once again, Sato wishes for a mouth that’s able to talk and explain to Tony that there’s no one he’d rather be around, wants to let him know how grateful he is for his care and protection, and that he would never mind the stress and fear that’s radiating off of him, because the only thing that matters is that he can stay by Tony’s side and take care of him just as well as he does. But Sato is a wolf now, and he can’t talk, at least not in a way that the man will understand, and that hurts him, because he wishes to explain himself and all that he feels these days. In the end, he is a wolf, and so he can’t do much more than curl himself tightly around the slightly shivering man and rests his head in his lap, licking his hands and nudging his chest. He hopes it’s enough, if only to show Tony that he is anything but angry at him.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. You love me, no matter what an asshole I am. Because you’re a wolf, and you don’t have a clue about what’s going on about you. ‘S what people like about dogs, too, you know? That unconditional love. Never thought I’d- But it _is_ kinda cool. Ya know, since I can’t fuck this up too easily... And that’s kinda scary, too, but whatever. I’m glad you’re more or less stuck with me.”

Sato is really glad about that, too. And he doesn’t feel stuck at all, since he knows he would be free to leave once his leg is completely healed. Tony wouldn’t keep him locked up in the lab forever, even if he seems adamant of hiding him for the foreseeable future. Even so, he knows that he’d find a way to break free, should he desire to do so once he’s strong enough again. Sato has spent a long time chained to the ground, but he also remembers how strong, fast and persevering he once was. After all this time he has spent being cared for by Tony, he has no doubt about reaching his full potential soon enough again.

Then again... Does he even want to leave? Sato doesn’t feel stuck or locked up or chained down, because he knows, deep down in his heart, that he wants to stay. With Tony, because- Because he doesn’t know where else to go. So is he truly free, after all?

“And I’m sorry about Coulson, too. I know he scared you, and trust me, I was kinda tempted to let him into the lab. Think you would know how to deal with unwelcome visitors”, Tony adds with a dark growl that worries Sato, too.

He knows there’s darkness in the man’s heart, but he has never seen it aimed at himself. It isn’t this time, either, but it scares him, anyway, and he doesn’t like what Tony is implying. Sato doesn’t like fighting, even if his body was meant to do just that, he doesn’t like blood or violence, or tearing through anyone’s body. A shudder runs through his body as he remembers the cries of those warriors, and the taste of blood fills his maw and numbs his tongue. He wants to gag and burry his snout in the soft sand.

“I promise I’ll do better. About those visitors, I mean. And don’t worry about anyone finding out about you, that won’t happen. Those assholes might try, but I can guarantee you that I’ll make their life a living hell whenever they even think about stepping foot onto my property.”

Sato wonders if there will be a fight one day. He listened to the stranger’s voice and what he was promising, and he remembers the way his heart clenched and started to race at the mere thought of a battle. He knows which side he’d take, and that quenches the fear just slightly. Still, he hopes it won’t come to that. He doesn’t crave any battles, he only wants peace.

“Got some more news for you, though.”

At that, the wolf’s ears perk up and he pauses his gentle licking. The man scoffs at his curious gaze and he carefully flicks one of his ears.

“Ah, so you were listening after all, huh?”, he grins before sobering again and sighing deeply, “but in seriousness: I’ve got a call today. Remember that?”

Sato does remember, since the ghost was talking about Pepper calling, and he remembers the way Tony flinched and his hands started to tremble ever so slightly. He is not sure if he likes that name, because while Tony says it with a lot of fondness, he can always hear the man’s heart tremble whenever she talks to him, or Tony talks about her himself. And while he has never met her, he already knows she’s what the man wants to talk about. No... No, he doesn’t like it.

“Long story short: Pepper called and asked if she could come by tomorrow. To, uh, to talk. About us, I mean. Which sucks, ‘cause I just... That’s just bound to fail, but I’m fool enough to at least try, so that- That’s gonna happen. Tomorrow. Just wanted to let you know.”

Sato doesn’t like that, he doesn’t like it at all. He doesn’t like strangers in this house, or close to Tony, even if the man knows those people - The wolf wants them to stay away. Strangers never... Strangers always brought him nothing but pain and heartache, and he is not willing to take that risk. And Tony... Tony is already fragile, in some ways. The wolf doesn’t want to see him hurt, in any way.

“I told her she could come over for dinner, so that’s, uh, that’s gonna happen. So, you and I are gonna have an early dinner, and then I’m gonna leave you alone for a while. Depending on how things go, it might be a few minutes, or we’re gonna see each other in the morning. Uhm, yeah. So, I’ll need you to just- Be quiet and behave yourself, alright? Don’t make too much noise, and just be a good wolfie and sleep and- Not do anything. Think that’ll work?”

Sato thinks about it, but he doesn’t agree completeley. This woman will enter the house, and Tony won’t be there. The wolf knows he can stay quiet, but he also thinks about the nightmares, and the ugly feeling of waking up by himself, confused and scared, without the man there to comfort and remind him of where he is. No, he doesn’t like any of this.

“Yeah, I’m sure you’ll do your best. You always do, right? And that’s all I’m asking, really.”

Sato knows. He knows that Tony understands a lot of things, and he is grateful, he really is. But this- This makes him nervous. With a whine, he curls a little closer, nudging his snout against Tony’s glowing chest and nips at his clothing. He wishes for a mouth again, wishes for the words and the voice to make the man understand. But he is a wolf, after all, so there are no words, no voice, no language Tony understands.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Or not. But if it isn’t, I’ve got cupboards full of alcohol, so I’ll just get wasted, and then we’ll party hard! Think you can get drunk, too? I’m sure that’d be hilarious!”

Sato doesn’t know, but he has seen his uncle dance and laugh and stumble, many, many years ago. It’s a distant, smudged memory, but it’s warm, because he remembers his father pressed against his side, smelling of mead and laughing along with his brother, falling back against the wolf’s side and pressing a kiss to his forehead. It’s a good memory, still, even if it’s far away, and he hasn’t seen his uncle in almost as many years now. He is not sure if he ever wants to experience that state of mind, though both his father and his uncle seemed relaxed and carefree and full of life and laughter. Maybe it would be a good idea, after all. He thinks that he’d like to feel that way, too.

“Ah, but we can’t tell Rhodey, you hear me? He’s a party pooper, and he’d sure as fuck have something to say about this idea... So keep that big mouth of yours shut, alright?”

Sato rumbles and blinks his eyes at that, amused. No, he wouldn’t tell Rhodey, even if he was able to. He likes the way that name makes Tony’s heart swell and his eyes brighten, fills his face with happiness and laughter. He likes Rhodey, too. Rhodey is easy. Sato can understand him, and he can understand Tony and Rhodey together, too. But Pepper... He doesn’t understand her, not yet.

“Ugh, I’m kinda done talking about shit like that, anyway. You ready to head back? Think we’re still one meal short today, both of us. Wanna share some take-out and watch a movie? I’ll even let you pick one of the two!”

Just like that, Sato feels the stress and tension leave Tony’s body as the man jumps to his feet and claps his hands together. The wolf takes a little longer to get to his paws, but Tony waits patiently, and then he buries a hand in his fur and gently guides him along.

“Alright, I was thinking about getting some thai. You liked that, remember? And for that movie: Maybe we should try something without any wolves, this time? Rhodey mentioned a few children’s movies, he said you might like those, and I think we could really do with some...”

Sato lets his attention drift as Tony starts rambling about the movies they could watch, and then starts pointing out various advantages of the suggestions Rhodey made, launching into a rather detailed explanation as they slowly make their way back towards the house’s lights. Sato feels himself relaxing more and more the closer they get, and he lets the soft, familiar voice wash over his senses.

They are safe, for now. Things are changing, but there’s nothing Sato can do to prevent that from happening. So he will take the peace and quiet they have now, and he’ll enjoy that as much as he can, for as long as he can.


	7. Chapter 7

“Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit.”

_Sir, you appear to be in rather severe distress. Would you like for me--_

“I would like for you to shut up!”, Tony grumbles as he wrings his hands and tries not to let the panic grow anymore, “and gimme the time again?”

_Miss Potts is set to arrive in about five to ten minutes. Would you like for me to call her and--”_

“What? No, don’t you dare! That won’t help at all, that’ll only make everything so much worse!”, he hisses as he walks yet another circle through his living room.

Yes, he’s scared. Terrified, even, because this is what he’s been dreading for weeks- Months even, if he’s brutally honest, and now it’s going to happen in less than ten minutes, and that’s- Not good. That’s just so not good, and he needs to calm down, or he’ll end up having a panic attack, and then- On the other hand, if he passes out now, he might just be spared... While he’s seriously contemplating to drive himself to passing out in order to avoid this conversation, he keeps an ear out for Sato.

The wolf is, of course, still in the lab. They had a quiet evening last night (ended up watching Toy Story, and even Tony can’t lie about being absolutely thrilled by that movie), and went to bed pretty early. Then they got up this morning, and things just went to shit. He was panicking before he even left the bed, and of course the wolf noticed and started panicking, too, and so they both felt like shit and didn’t have any way to deal with that. It’s been a few stressful hours, to say the least, and in the end Tony decided to leave the lab early, if only to distance himself from Sato in hopes of allowing the animal some space would calm both of them.

So far, that’s been a terrible miscalculation. JARVIS informs him about every five minutes that Sato is busy freaking out in the lab, and Tony is busy freaking out in the living room, and everyone’s just miserable. Superb, as always. And now Pepper is almost here, and he’s an anxious mess, and they’ll have a talk, and afterwards- Well, Tony will just have to wait and see.

_Sir, Miss Potts car just--_

“Okay, yeah, I changed my mind. Just tell her I’m not here, or no- Tell her that I’m dead. Explosion in the lab, tragic accident, nothing to be done about it.”

_I doubt that would result in her immediately leaving the property, sir._

“You sure? I think she’d be kinda glad if she had the opportunity to just get out of this, no questions asked.”

He’s met with silence, and that’s just awesome, too, because he just _knows_ JARVIS is more or less suppressing a sigh.

“Or maybe I’ll just let her in and get this over with”, he murmurs as he lets his head hang and closes his eyes for a few moments, trying to calm his racing heart, “how’s the patient doing?”

_Sato is still rather distressed, though he has laid down on the mattress and is currently watching the door. It appears he is waiting for your return._

That... Is a rather sad image, actually. Doesn’t make Tony feel all that much better, but he knows that this is the only way to do this. No way he’ll tell Pepper about the giant wolf currently living in his lab, especially not right now. Still, that’s yet another reason why he can’t wait until all of this is over. And then the doorbell rings, and he more or less changes his mind completely again.

“Why didn’t you tell me she was here already?”, he hisses as he hurries towards the door.

_I believe the saying goes “ignorance is bliss”. I was simply trying to spare you more stress, since there was nothing you could have done to change the situation at hand--_

“You’re a traitor, that’s what you are! Silence, now, and don’t- Keep an eye on Sato! And, uh, I dunno how, but try to keep him calm if he starts freaking out again.

_I will do my best, sir._

“Yeah, me too, buddy, me too.”

And then he opens the door open before he can think too much about it, and there--

Wow. There’s Pepper. And she looks amazing. Might be because he hasn’t seen her for almost a month now, and while he has an awesome memory, but he thinks he has forgotten just a bit just how beautiful that woman actually is. Skin tanned just a bit, hair in a soft ponytail, and she’s wearing simple, tight jeans and a wide, soft blouse. And that smile, fuck that smile, it actually makes his knees go a little weak.

“Hello, Tony.”

“Hi, Pepper. You look amazing.”

“Thank you”, she answers with a smile as she tucks a lose strand of hair behind her ear, “I’d love to say the same about you, but you look... A little tired. Is everything alright?”

Awesome, just a few seconds into the conversation, and she’s already worrying again. Great, things are just going great, so he hurries to plaster a smile onto his face and waves his hand dismissively.

“Oh, you know, the usual! Sleepless nights and days spent working. Not the best mixture, I know, but there was some- You know what? Doesn’t matter. You wanna come in?”

“Yeah, I’d like to. I brought dinner, too”, she adds and lifts a paper bag.

“Cool. Gimme that, I’ll get some plates and drinks. Why don’t you make yourself at home until I’m ready?”

He doesn’t really give her any time to answer, simply grabs the bag and hurries towards the (mostly unused) kitchen, pulling out plates and glasses, pulling containers out of the bag and dishing out the food.

“How’s wolfie doing?”, he murmurs as he fishes for a bottle of wine.

_Project Ruff Stuff has grown slightly more agitated when Miss Potts arrived, but he has made no move to attempt leaving the lab or shown any signs of severe distress. He’s still watching the door and grumbling, though not growling._

“Good, good. Keep me updated, and again: If he gets worse, try to calm him down, first. I don’t know how I’d explain any of this to Pepper.”

_Certainly, sir._

By then he’s done with the food, and carries everything back to the sofa. He’s never really liked the idea of sitting down at an actual dinner table, and since Pepper already knows that (somehow) she’s gotten comfortable on the sofa. She lifts her head and smiles, quickly reaching over to take the two plates and the cutlery as Tony tries his best to not spill any of the wine. It takes a few moments to get everything settled, and then there’s this horrible awkward silence he hates so much. Pepper isn’t really eating, more like picking at her food, and Tony had about two pizzas earlier, because he ordered for Sato and was so nervous that he ate half of the serving himself.

After another moment, Pepper sets down her fork with a sigh and leans back into the sofa.

“Okay. I think we need to talk.”

“Was kinda of afraid you’d say that”, Tony murmurs as he does the same and drags a hand through his hair, “but I guess it’s best to get it over with. You wanna start? Since I think you’re the only one who has actually something to say.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I just find it hard to believe that I’m the only one who has something to say right now.”

“O-kay...?”

Tony isn’t really sure what she’s talking about, and that sucks, majorly. Thankfully, Pepper doesn’t seem completely disappointed, but takes another deep breath and actually explains.

“Tony, let’s be honest here: Yes, I was the one who went on that vacation, but don’t tell me I was the only only who needed the break!”

“I, uh, I mean--”

“You can tell me, you know”, she adds with a gentle expression as she leans forward just a little bit, “I’m a big girl, I can take it! And I know that this - Being in a relationship, living with someone, things like that - Are pretty new for you.”

And that’s just the problem, isn’t it? That Tony thought he’d just be able to change his lifestyle from one day to the next, that everything would just work out perfectly because he was in love, and that was supposed to change everything, make it magically better and of course, they’d live happily ever after! But that didn’t happen, and that’s the problem.

“It’s kinda... Hard. Not because of you! You- You’re just perfect, okay, really, absolutely perfect, but I- I’m not _used_ to any of this, and I think- I think that might be a problem.”

“Yeah, I think so, too.”

“Sorry. God, I’m really sorry.”

“No, Tony, that’s... That’s not something you need to apologize for. _I_ am sorry for expecting way too much in such a short amount of time. I should’ve known you wouldn’t change in such a short amount of time.”

“I wanted to, though. I still do.”

“But I don’t want you to change!”, she replies with a warm smile and a slight shake of her head, “because there’s a reason I fell in love with _you_ , and not anyone else! I don’t want you to change for my sake, because that could never work out.”

Tony nods along, because she’s right, in a way, though he doesn’t want her to be. He wants there to be an easy solution for this mess, which ends with him being an awesome partner and healthy human being, not the train wreck he is right now. He wants to be- Better. Whatever that means.

“Okay, so... So you don’t want me to change? But what, uh... What are we gonna do, then? Because I have a feeling this isn’t going to work out if things just stay exactly the same.”

“I think you’re right about that. And that’s what I’ve been thinking about for the last few days.”

Tony watches as she presses her lips into a thin line and hesitates for a moment. That’s- Bad, that’s gotta be bad, and he can feel his body tighten and tremble as she lowers her gaze and thinks for a few seconds. The room is quiet, and the engineer simply waits for the moment she tells him that she hasn’t found a solution, and that they’ll just have to break it off.

“Okay, here’s what I think: We both need to take a few steps back. We went headfirst into this, and that was apparently way too fast - For both of us. So, how about we start off again?”

“What, like- Dating?”

“Something like that, yeah. I mean, we could agree to go out once or twice a week, and have dinner together, stay in and watch a movie... Things like that. Not too much, but enough to get to know each other a little better, and have a chance to get used to this relationship. And talk to each other, the moment something doesn’t feel right, or something is bothering either of us.”

“That- Doesn’t sound all that romantic.”

“Relationships often aren’t in real life”, Pepper answers with a shrug and reaches over, putting a hand on his and squeezing gently, “but I’m willing to live with that. Are you?”

“Jeez, of course, Pep! Have you met me? I’m the least romantic guy on the planet, do you really--”

But he doesn’t get any further than that, because Pepper leans forward and presses her lips to his. Tony can’t help but sigh softly and close his eyes, automatically wrapping his arms arms carefully around her soft frame as he kisses back. His heart stutters as he leans in and gently cups her face in his rough hand and gets lost in the moment. When they pull apart a few moments later, her cheeks are flushed just a little bit, and there’s a playful glint in her eyes.

“I’ve missed you, Tony.”

“I’ve missed you too, Pep. More than I can say.”

To Tony’s immense surprise, the day doesn’t end in neither screaming and blood shed, nor in enthusiastic sex on the kitchen counter. His money was on the first one, but he was kinda hoping for the second option to come true.

But no, neither of that happens. Instead, things take a rather unexpected turn: They have dinner. Simple as that. Tony is a little baffled when Pepper picks up her fork and finally digs into her food, and he’s so stunned that he doesn’t hesitate too long before doing just the same. So, they have dinner. And they talk. Well, Pepper talks, and she tells him about her time on the Seychelles, how she spent her days, about the people she met, the ideas she had, all of that. In return, Tony does his best to come up with... Something close to the truth, but not what’s actually been going on, since he doesn’t want to ruin the fragile moment of peace they’ve reached by telling her about the giant wolf currently residing in his lab.

Speaking of Sato, the scanner keeps on sending him messages about the wolf’s condition, and it doesn’t- Well, it’s not great. Sato seems rather nervous, even though he’s doing his best to keep calm (judging by JARVIS’s own reports, which reach him every thirty minutes) and doesn’t make too much noise. He’s lying on the floor, head resting on the mattress, watching the door. Probably listening to everything they’re saying, but so far he hasn’t freaked out, which is... Good. Or the best he’s going to get right now.

So, they talk, for hours, and it feels- Great. Tony’s laughing and Pepper smiles warmly, leaning her head against his shoulder as he tells her about the day Rhodey came over and they watched _Old_ _Yeller_ (and ended up crying their eyes out, since they’d had a few drinks too many before that). Even if he has to leave Sato’s presence out, it still makes her laugh, and that sound makes something warm bloom in his chest when she presses her face against his chest. Yeah, it feels good, but not too good to feel overwhelming. It’s- Fine. It’s something he enjoys without having to stay alert in case something could go wrong. No, this is good, and he can enjoy it without feeling guilty for no reason at all. And Pepper seems happy, too, and that’s even better, and when he drapes an arm around her shoulders and pulls her just a little closer, he thinks that yeah. Yeah, this might work out, after all.

In the end, Pepper stays until almost one am, and then she allows him to call for a cab. Tony walks her to the door once the car arrives, and kisses her goodbye, too, until they’re both just a little breathless. She leaves with a sweet smile and the promise to call him - Either on SI related business, or for their first date. He’ll hear from her, either way, and that settles something in his chest.

When the door closes behind her, he leans against it and breathes out a long sigh.

“What the fuck just happened?”

After a few minutes (and a couple of drinks, since he’s still pretty jittery and just needs to calm down a bit, okay?), Tony slowly makes his way down the stairs, into the lab. He can already hear the wolf’s impatient whining, and he barely makes it through the door before Sato is already on top of him.

“Ugh, this is already getting old”, he grumbles as the giant animal wrestles him to the ground and starts sniffing him frantically, “JARVIS, any idea what this is all about? And how we might be able to avoid it in the future.”

_I believe Sato is primarily making sure you haven’t been injured, while also trying to gather some information about the time you spent apart._

“Okay, so we’re back to the smelling”, the engineer mutters as the wolf presses his cold, wet snout against his neck and face, inhaling his scent greedily, “find anything interesting? ‘Cause I can actually tell you what you’re smelling: That’s Pepper. She smells nice, right?”

The wolf huffs at that, and it doesn’t sound like an agreement at all which Tony finds just a little amusing.

“What, have you gotten used to my stink already? Let me tell you: This smell is _not_ something _any_ human being would ever consider pleasant, just so you know!”

Sato doesn’t seem to care all that much as he slowly calms down ever so slightly, gently licking at Tony’s throat and rumbling lowly. The engineer waits a few more moments before lowering his hands, burying them in the soft fur and scratching behind the wolf’s fluffly ears. Taking deep, even breaths, he tries his best to radiate calm and contentment - Which is not all that hard, since it’s exactly what he’s feeling right this second. He’s happy, really happy, because he still can’t quite believe what happened just a few minutes ago.

“You ever been in love before, wolfie?”, he murmurs as Sato rests his head on his chest and watches him with wide, attentive eyes, “‘cause that’s just awesome, lemme tell you! Never thought I’d say that, but here I am... Actually in love. Who would’ve thought that, huh?”

The wolf lets out a low whine, but Tony shushes him, gently carding a hand through his fur. This is not the moment to stress out, this is the moment to relax and be happy and so fucking grateful it almost hurts. Because Pepper hasn’t broken up with him, has actually agreed to give them another chance, and is even ready to take it slow - Which is usually so not Tony’s style, but for Pepper, he’s more than willing to try.

“God, I’m one lucky bastard, huh? I actually get to keep her. And you, too! Hey, I almost forgot about that: You were a really, _really_ good wolfie today! I’m extremely proud of you!”

**Thump thump thump thump. Thump thump thump. Thump thump thump thump.**

Sato is wagging his tail and woofing happily, and Tony has not doubt that the wolf understands that he’s just been praised. And yeah, he might’ve only been told to be quiet, but he’s actually done a pretty good job, especially since Tony knows that the wolf wasn’t all that happy about their arrangement in the first place. So yeah, he’s pretty fucking proud, sue him!

“I think... I think this might actually work”, Tony murmurs as he pushes himself into a seated position, Sato’s heavy head in his lap as he slowly drags his fingers up and down the back of the big snout, “all of this, I mean. Things with me and Pepper... Whatever _this_ is, as long as you don’t decide to spontaneously redecorate my lab, house or body - And everything together, too. If the blackout mode already works this well, imagine what it’ll be like once I actually get to fine tuning the hell out of it! And if Rhodey is on board as well, it wouldn’t be a problem to leaving you at home for a weekend, or something like that...”

Tony keeps on thinking about logistics as he pets his wolf and watches those golden eyes slowly slip shut again. It seems like now, after Tony is back and nothing bad happened, all the stress and tension are leaving Sato’s body, and he’s crashing rather fast. That’s okay, too, because Tony’s here, and he doesn’t plan on leaving in the next few hours.

And then he realizes that he might actually be crazy. Because here he is, not even an hour after Pepper left and they decided to give it another try, thinking about how he will organize his life with his girlfriend and the giant wolf he’s currently hiding in his lab - Who he’s apparently already decided to keep, since he hasn’t even bothered to think about any other possible solutions for almost two weeks. Sure, Rhodey kept on mentioning it (especially since Sato kept on getting better, and they both knew it wouldn’t take much longer than a few weeks until the wolf would be able to run on all four of his legs again), but Tony only brushed those reminders aside, because he really didn’t want to even think about it. Sato was fine, and he was fine, too, and they were... Good, right? The wolf’s happy, at least the engineer thinks he is, content and on the mend, almost completeley healed by now. He likes Tony, he really does, and he likes Rhodey, and he thinks that the wolf likes JARVIS and the bots, too - Tony has seen him “play” with DUM-E a couple times, which mostly consisted of the wolf nudging the slightly distressed bot and then yipping excitedly once it trundled after him through the lab, playing a rather strange (and kinda dumb, but whatever) game of catch.

So yeah, Sato is happy here. And Tony is happy to have him here, too. More than happy, actually. But is that really- Is that really what the way he wants to spend his life from now on? Does he really want to hide the wolf for the rest of his life (as long as Sato lives that long, too), lying to everyone but Rhodey and risking a giant disaster every single time he invites someone into his home? The answers is- Yes. Kinda, at least. Tony isn’t sure if _this_ is really how he wants to live life, but he does know that he wants to- Yeah, he wants to keep the wolf. Partly because he’s come to love the giant puppy, partly because he has no idea where he’d even send Sato, anyway. So yeah, that one’s easy to answer. He wants the wolf to stay. But is that really the best option? Because the wolf might be happy, but what’s that even saying? Considering the state he arrived in, it’s no surprise he’s more than content with simply not being tortured anymore. Of course he’s happy! He gets good food, affection, care and protection. All an animal wants and needs, so _of fucking course_ he’s not going to bail for no reason at all! Frowning, he looks down at the wolf dozing in his lap and cocks his head.

“Hey. You’d tell me if you were miserable, right?”, he asks lowly, gently poking the black, wet snout, “you’d find a way to let me know, wouldn’t you?”

Sato blinks a few times and whines, licking at his fingers before taking the man’s hand into his maw and nibbling on it. Tony scoffs and shakes his head, because of course that’s the answer.

“JARVIS? How do you know if a wolf is happy?”

_I cannot find a direct answer to that question, sir. There are, however, multiple theories on happiness in dogs. Would you like to hear--_

“Uh, sure, sure, let’s hear it.”

So he listens to his AI listing a couple of signs that indicate a dog’s happiness, because there can’t be that much of a difference, and he’ll take what he can get. Looking down at the big wolf again, he mentally checks off one after another. Realxed posture, blinking lazily, happy rumbling noises, no destructive behaviors when left alone, always happy to engage in whatever Tony suggests, healthy appetite, friendly, seeking out body contact and leaning into his touches... So, he seems happy.

“You think he’s happy, J?”, Tony murmurs once the AI is finished as he drags his fingers up and down the back of Sato’s snout.

_I believe so. Considering his behavior and emotional response, I believe Sato to be rather content in his current situation. Is there a specific aspect of his well being you are concerned about, sir?_

“No, no, I just- I dunno. Just thinking about the future, I guess. And I highly doubt that a lab like this is the perfect environment for a giant wolf.”

_You might be right. One the other hand, I hardly believe there are any other recorded incidents of giant wolves teleporting into an engineer’s laboratory, so we wouldn’t know about the ideal course of action in this case._

“Always trying to make me feel better, huh?”, Tony murmurs with a grin, “it’s just- I like having him around. I really do. And I know he likes being around me, too, but... I mean, we saw what he looked like when he first came here. Not all that hard to provide a slightly less shitty situation after that hell, you know? So I... I guess I just don’t want him to settle for this, only because he doesn’t know any better- And I was too selfish to try and find a better solution than _this_.”

The AI is quiet for a moment, while Tony drags his hand through the wolf’s soft fur and wonders if he’s actually developing something like selfless care. Nah, probably not. But he cares for the wolf, he really does. Maybe enough to not condemn him to a life in misery, just because he himself enjoys the company.

_If I may voice a personal opinion, sir?_

“‘Course, buddy. Hit me.”

_There are no recorded occurrences like this in the entire world. There are no records of giant wolves appearing anywhere else. Yet you managed to nurse Sato back to health and gain his trust in the process. I honestly believe that, while this might not be the ideal environment, it was still the best possible outcome for him, since he is safe and you truly care for and about him. Even if it would be a compromise, it is better than what he could hope to experience anywhere else in the world. And that is not something to simply brush off._

“Uh- Wow. Didn’t know you’d get this emotional on me, J”, Tony mutters as he blinks a few times and does his best to clear his throat.

_I thought it important to make you see reason on this single occasion, sir. You are dealing with an extremely rare and dangerous situation on your own, to the best of your abilities. That is not something to be frowned upon._

The man nods slowly as licks his lips and tries to get his emotions under control. Sure, that’s his AI, and he shouldn’t care that much. But damn, if JARVIS didn’t manage to hit a few of his soft spots. And yeah, it’s good to hear that, too, because it’s so fucking important and he really needed to get a little bit of acknowledgement for what he’s been doing.

“Thanks, JARVIS. Really.”

_It’s my pleasure, sir. And I truly believe that in time, you will find a solution, whatever that might be._

And that- Yeah, that’ll be enough for now.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> of course my dumb ass messed up counting the chapter, so yeeeeaaaaah... there'll be ten!
> 
> anyway, things are still rather sad, although there's always light at the end of the tunnel! (at least at some point)
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter, lemme know what you think!
> 
> Love,  
> Goldie

_Dying. He is dying... Or he wishes he was. Endless darkness all around him, as he falls, falls and falls and falls and falls... There’s no wind, no sound, just the endless universe that swallows him whole... And he’s falling, further and further away from what he once called home, from all he once knew... He has travelled through all the nine realms, but this- This is something else entirely. Darkness and pain, cold biting into his flesh as he lazily turns his head, staring into the endless abyss that washes by his eyes. He no longer thinks, thoughts dripping from his brain, out of ears as he closes his eyes again and remembers. That, he can still do._

_Memories floods his mind, and they warm him from the inside out as he falls through the nothing. And he remembers, and he watches through his father’s eyes. All those years they spent together... And he sees the forests that they used to travel again, races through it as he hunts down whatever prey he desired. He pushes his father into the cold creek, and laughs as his head breaches the surface again, only to hauled in after by nothing but magic. The nights they spent under the stars, again and again and again, and he feels a smile touch his face, though he is not sure if it’s his own or his father’s... But still, he can’t look away. And there they are, the days they spent traveling, his father guiding him through swamps and deserts, through the endless sky and into the deepest, warmest darkness he’s ever seen, and he watches and wonders just as he did the first time, every time they went out and explored the nine realms. He remembers his uncle, the broad, blond god, who was always laughing, wrestling him to the ground once he grew enough the face Thor’s strength, and he feels a sting of pain in his chest that can’t be his own- Or could it be?_

_He is not sure. But there is more, there is endlessly more - More than he remembers himself. Washing through his senses, and he gets lost, and the cold seeps out of his body, and he’s smiling again, and it’s been so long, so long..._

_The days in the snow, he remembers those. It was cold, and he sneezed and shook his head, but then he dove into the white wonder and laughing and yipping as he jumped into the cold.And his father laughed, and jumped right after him. They rolled in the snow until they were shivering, and then father built a fire and they watched the stars, and the lights- The lights! Maybe they will guide him home! But it’s dark, and he’s lost, and there no colorful lights or shining stars marking his way, and even if there were- Where would he want to go? Home is no longer a place, but someone gone forever, and he is only waiting to reach his end and go there, too... And he doesn’t understand, but at the same time he does, and he feels a deep, pounding ache in his chest that makes him want to open his mouth and howl, call out and be heard and be found... But there’s no one who could hear him, and he is alone and won’t be heard, and he won’t find him, he won’t ever find him, no, he is gone, gone gone gone gone gone--_

_And then he sees himself. Not a wolf yet, barely a tiny pup, a ball of soft fur, curled into his father’s arms. His eyes slowly blink open as he yawns and looks up, into his father’s face, and the sorcerer looks back at him with eyes overflowing with unconditional love as he smiles, and brushes a gentle finger through the fur of his face, leaning forward to press a kiss to his black nose. He doesn’t remember, but he sees himself, and he feels love and affection swell in his heart, and then--_

_Then his father lifts his gaze, eyes shining with unshed tears of happiness, and turns to look at the person beside him. A woman, a woman he- He knows, yet he doesn’t, but he does... And he looks at her face, her blond hair, golden eyes, and he feels himself tremble, because this, this means something, SHE means something, but he doesn’t know her, yet his heart stutters and eyes fill with tears as he watches his father lean over and press a gentle kiss to her rosy lips--_

_Falling, he is falling again, and it’s all gone, all lost, never to be his again, and feels tears stream down his face, freezing in the cold and his heart clenches painfully as he opens his mouth and screams. The sounds is swallowed by the universe before it even leaves his mouth. He screams, silently, as he falls._

“What the fuck- Hey, hey, wolfie. Wake up. C’mon, it’s open your eyes, okay? I know you can do it, I know you can! Come on, you’re kinda scaring me, buddy, I- JARVIS? Any idea what I should do? Because I’m kinda running out of ideas here, and he won’t wake up, and I’m getting pretty nervous about the whole thing... Sato? Can you even hear me? Oh shit, are you- Are you alright? Hey, hey, come on, please, please don’t- Don’t _do_ that to me, okay, because I really need you to be alright!”

Sato knows he needs to wake up again, because Tony sounds distressed, and the hand carding through his fur is trembling heavily. The man’s heartbeat is fast, breathing shallow as he grips the wolf’s pelt and tugs on it. He can feel his panic, his fear, and so he pushes against the darkness and struggles towards the voice he’s come to love and trust so much.

Sato lets out a whimper as he slowly blinks his eyes open. He knows where he is, but that is no comfort this time around. Even though he is relieved to no longer be falling through the chaos of the universe, he is- He is also alone again, in a way. Someone is missing, and his heart is aching for- For his father, and lets out a long, high pitched whine as he closes his eyes again. He can hear Tony curse in the darkness, crawling closer and wrapping his arms around Sato’s neck, pulling him closer. The wolf tries to listen to his soft, gentle voice, tries to actually hear the comforting sounds and words he mutters into his fur, and he tries to focus on the the warmth he feels, but the ice cold fear clutches at his heart and makes him shudder and shake, even in Tony’s arms.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, buddy, it’s all good! Listen to me, okay, just focus on my voice”, the man murmurs as he drags his hand a little rougher through the wolf’s fur, “just listen to me, alright? I’m here, you’re here, and there’s nothing bad happening. It was dream. Just a really, _really_ bad nightmare, and you’re safe, and no one will hurt you, I promise. I swear on my life, actually, and I’ve come to value that quite a bit more recently, so it honestly means something!”

Sato is crying. There are salty tears running through his fur, and wonders how long it’s been since he last did that. It hasn’t happened all that often as a wolf, and on Lyngvy... He used to cry in the beginning, for days and nights, but he stopped once he thought of the possibility of the the Allfather watching him suffer, and so he kept quiet and simply trembled in the fetter. He blinks as he slowly lifts his head and looks at the man kneeling right in front of him. Tony is watching him with wide, concerned eyes, and he can’t suppress the whine that claws its way out of his throat as he crawls just a little closer. Tony readily opens his arms and wraps him up in his arms again, and Sato wishes he was smaller, wishes to be a tiny pup again, or for another body, one that could be folded up in those arms and be protected and hidden away from this cruel life. But he is a wolf, after all, a giant wolf, and while Tony is doing his best at comforting him, he is only one man, and he- He is not the one his heart is aching for right now.

“Jeez, you scared me, puppy. But it’s okay now, you hear me? It’s all good. JARVIS, make sure to save that data, I wanna use that later on! And you- Hey, c’mere, alright? Let’s try to lay down again, and see if we can’t calm down a little more, huh?”

Sato follows Tony easily, crawling forward until his head and paw rest on the mattress again. The man lies down on his side, urging him to come closer until he can curl himself around Sato’s head, dragging him closer until the wolf’s snout is pressed against his chest and throat. A sense of safety and security washes over him as the quiet humming sound fills his ears again, and he takes deep breaths, inhaling Tony’s familiar, calming scent. His heart is still pounding in his chest, but it’s less about fear and more about a completely different kind of pain. Still, he listens to Tony’ heartbeat and breath, and the words now flooding his senses again.

“God, I wish you could tell me what you dream about! Don’t tell Rhodey is said that, but, uh, talking about it actually kinda helps. At least for me. So I kinda wish you could do the same. Maybe then I could help you. Make it better, you know? ‘Cause this kinda sucks. For both of us. Mostly for you, but I don’t like seeing you like this, either.”

Sato lets out a deep breath as he presses just a little closer and nudges against Tony’s glowing chest. The man huffs a breath and reaches his hands over, carding his fingers expertly through his fur, dragging them up and down the back of his snout. Just he way he’s come to love.

“Already forgot about it again? Wish it was that easy for me, too. Do wolves even remember any of their dreams? Did anyone ever research that? No, forget that, that’s kinda dumb. But, uh, what do you dream about, hm? I mean... I’ve already told you what keeps me up at night. You wanna do the same?”

Sato wishes he could, because he is scared. He doesn’t understand what he’s seeing in those dreams, and he doesn’t like the things he feels during the night. His dreams have always been different... But he doesn’t understand those images, and he fears understanding them even more than the fear itself.

“Yeah, I really wish you could. ‘Cause I wanna help you, okay? I really want to help you... But I don’t think I can. And that- That really sucks.”

Sato wishes he had a mouth again, because he needs to tell Tony that he’s doing more than he should, that he should be scared of his claws and fangs and hide away whenever he comes too close, and he feels his heart clench again. Instead of words, he uses his body to press close and lick at the man’s throat, desperate to make him understand, because Sato is so, _so_ tired, and he only wishes for some rest, and for Tony to finally understand just how much he’s come to trust and love him. But he’s a wolf. There are no words he could use.

“Do you dream about... About the time you were chained down? About what they did to you?”

No. No, Sato doesn’t dream about those times. He thinks about his time on Lyngvy, and maybe that’s the reason those memories leave him alone at night. A shudder runs through his frame and presses into Tony’s warmth, who draws in a deep breath and gently pets his head again.

“Sorry, puppy. Didn’t mean to bring back bad memories. Trust me, I know a thing or two about those... But that’s it, huh? Whatever happened to you... I get it, I do. What you’ve been through- That’d be more than enough to drive anyone insane. You’re handling a lot better than I am, for once. So, congratulations, I guess?”

No, it’s not the rattling of chains that wakes him up at night. But how would he ever explain that to Tony? He is mute, in a way, and he hates himself for that. His body has never betrayed him, but now it does, and he wants to growl and bite into his own flesh in frustration. Instead, he buries his snout in Tony’s scent and forces his eyes closed again. The darkness is warm and Tony’s hands are moving over his body, weighing him down and making it hard to stay awake and alert. Still, the man keeps on talking, and so the wolf listens, as he always does.

“Still wonder what happened to you, though. I mean, I have a vague idea, and I’m kinda glad I don’t have all the details, if I think about how you looked when you crashed in here... But still. You were chained down, for a pretty long time, too, that much is clear. Starved, probably left to die. Did they torture you? Is that even something people do? Torture animals? For fun, or-- I dunno. I can’t even scare that mangy cat away, let alone kick her, or do anything worse. But maybe that’s different- From wherever you came from. Are people there enjoying shit like that?”

Sato wonders about that, too. He hasn’t met all that many people to really be sure, but he has a feeling that the Aesir like to play with their prey. His father... He sometimes talked about those living in the golden palace, but he never did so with anything but disdain and hissing anger, so Sato wonders if it was- But no, father never lied to him. He was angry, though, he often was. At his own father, the old King, at his brother, although Sato remembers Thor to be a joyful god, at everyone distrusting him, and those were all people except for the queen, Frigga. He doesn’t know. He only knows that the Allfather didn’t allow anyone to kill him until the day the fetter broke, so he thinks that the Aesir are cruel people. At least when it comes to those different from what they know and love.

“If that’s the case: I hope they burn in hell. No one’s allowed to hurt _anyone_ like that!”, Tony now mutters as he gently tugs on the wolf’s scruff, “no person, and no animal, either! You understand that, right? You’re not- You didn’t deserve any of that. You are such a sweet, loving wolf, and I know you wouldn’t hurt a soul. I mean, if you even get along with me, there’s no way you’d ever kill anyone else! Right?”

Sato likes to believe that, too. He has never been one for violence and anger and hatred, and while he has come to hate the Allfather, he has never felt anything like that for anyone else. He feels love most of the time. Sato loves his father, and he used to love his uncle, and he’s long since started to love Tony, and he knows that in due time, he will love Rhodey as well. No, he is not a violent creature, but maybe that’s only what he wants to believe. Maybe he is a monster after all...

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter to me. Even if you’ve killed before: I’m sure they deserved it. Whoever is evil enough to hurt anyone like that deserves to be fucking killed. Hope you got your revenge, actually.”

The wolf knows it’s his destiny to do just that, but he only whines and shakes his head. He doesn’t _want_ to kill Odin, he never wanted to. There were moments, back on Lyngvy, when he wished for the Allfather to die, but that desire never grew bigger than the one to just be free again. Still, he knows what the völva once told the King, and he wonders if it will come true, one day. Once, it seemed without question, but now? Now, so many things have happened that no one foresaw, and maybe- Maybe his destiny changed? Maybe Sato’s fate has shifted, maybe he will be forgotten if not forgiven, and will be left to live his life here? The wolf doubts it, he really does, but he can’t help and hope for mercy. He’d beg, if given the chance, because he never wanted to hurt anyone, and he only wants- He wants his father, and he wants to be free, and now- Now he also wants Tony, and to simply live his life in peace, without fear and pain.

“I got mine, too, you know? Revenge, I mean. It felt... Good. I guess. But not the way I thought it would. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad those fuckers are gone, and I know- I know I did the right thing, because they won’t ever hurt anyone ever again. So, that’s good. But I think... I think I thought that it’d do _more_. Like always, huh? Things happen, or I make them happen, and then it’s over, and I’m- I’m still a mess. Those terrorists are gone, dead and gone, but I still have nightmares. I still have panic attacks, even though I know they can’t hurt me anymore.”

The hands moving through his fur are trembling, and Sato leans up, gently nudging Tony’s chin and licking his cheeks and throat. The man lets out a shaky sigh as he buries his face in the wolf’s fur, wrapping his arms around his scruff and holding on tightly. Sato rumbles lowly as he rests his head in Tony’s lap and tries to stay calm, so that the man won’t spiral out of control. It hasn’t happened all that often since they’ve grown closer, but the wolf still fears what it does to Tony, and so he pushes his own fear away.

“‘M sorry, I know it’s not easy”, Tony murmurs into his pelt as he holds on tightly, “ _I’m_ not easy, trust me: I’m well aware. Still sucks. And I wish it was all different. Especially now. With you, and with Pepper... I just wanna make it work. So, _so_ badly. But I’m scared that I’ll somehow fuck it up, and then I’ll be alone again, and everything will hurt again, and I- I don’t think I can do that again, wolfie, I really don’t think I can. Not anymore.”

Sato lifts his head, at that, resting it on Tony’s shoulder, pushing the man gently into his chest. It feels good to have him close, to feel their hearts beat against each other as he breathes in deeply and listens to the steady hum filling his ears and mind. Yes, he feels safe. He might be aching and hurting, missing his father and fearing the future, but he knows that he is not alone. Sato has someone who cares for him, and who he cares for in return. He knows he’s welcome and even loved, and whatever the future might bring: Sato knows that Tony will be by his side, and that he himself will protect the man, or die trying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by the way, a few days ago i started writing a few pages of a later installment, and I made myself cry. so yeah, lots of sadnes to look forward to in the future -.-


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, I didn't have time to update yesterday :/  
> Here's the second to last chapter! Next, we'll have to epilogue, and then it's onto the next part, checking in on Loki again. Not sure how long it'll take (things are a bit hectic right now), but I'm hopeful to get it done before the end of next week!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Love,  
> Goldie

Tony lets out a deep breath as he pushes the blue prints out of his sight and leans back in his chair. His head is hurting, and knows he should take break, but he also knows that there are deadlines, and that stopping to work will only make his headache worse.

It’s a project he’s been working on for months, almost a year now, and it’s- It’s getting closer to being finished. Which is great, of course, but it also means that things will get infinitely more complicated in just a few weeks times. With a deep sigh, he turns and looks at Sato. The wolf is sleeping peacefully in the middle of the lab, bis head resting on the mattress. It’s a sweet sight, and Tony can’t help but smile ever so slightly. Good to see the big animal rest for now, since the last few days and weeks have been anything but easy. Still, he can’t enjoy it for too long, because there is work to be done, and once it’s finished, he will have to figure out a whole new set of problems.

It started out as a simple idea: Use the arc reactor to power buildings, and eventually whole cities. So, Tony started to build a prototype, and when that on proved to be way more powerful and promising than he expected to, he build another one, and then he ran some simulations and calculations... And it all worked out. Pepper was overjoyed, and started planning out a way to market it, and then there were talks about a tower, and he found himself agreeing without thinking about it for longer than just a few minutes, since she was just so excited, and the idea was pretty amazing, anyway, and what was the worst that could happen? But then things started to change, and Pepper started to talk about setting up business somewhere else - New York came to mind, and Tony agreed again, and he didn’t think about too much, again, because sure. He’d always liked the city, and Malibu was kinda overrated, anyway, and why not get a change of scenery?

So he agreed. And now here he is. Stark Tower is just about to be finished, constructions will be finished in just a few days, and then it’ll be time to get moving already. Which means- He’s going to move across the whole country in less than a week, and that’s cool, of course, but also kinda shitty, because, well... With yet another sigh, he turns to look at Sato once again. Yeah, he made those plany without the wolf. Because the wolf wasn’t there back then, and now he is, and that’s the problem. He’s managed to put it off until now, but since Pepper called just a few days ago and told him she’d ordered the moving company to arrive this weekend, his strategy doesn’t work all that well anymore. Tony’s moving to New York. And Sato?

“So you never thought about this? Not even once? IN OVER A MONTH?”

“I know, I know, I’m terrible”, Tony sighs as he stretches out on the mattress, “that’s not really helping right now. Think we could skip the lecture and go straight to the point where you help me figure this shit out? Just this once?”

Rhodey sighs, and Tony wonders if there’ll ever come a point where his friend simply gives up on him. To his immense happiness, today is not that day, and Rhodey keeps talking to him.

“Okay. So, you’re moving to New York.”

“Yeah.”

“In less than a week.”

“Yeah.”

“And you’ve got a giant wolf hidden in your lab.”

“Yeah?”

“And you want that wolf to- What, exactly? Move you with you?”

“... Yeah?”

“... You realize how that sounds, right?”

“Pretty crazy, yeah. So, how do we do this?”

Even through the phone, he can actually _see_ Rhodey lift his gaze towards the heavens, probably asking for assistance. Since his quest seems to go unanswered, he lets out a deep, deep sigh again and then gets back to fixing Tony’s mess of a life. The usual, after all.

“Tones... Don’t you think this is a little- Much?”

“Uh, how, exactly?”

“ _All of this_. I mean, you’re moving across the country. That’s already aa big change. You’re starting a whole new chapter with that whole clean energy thing, and that’ll be a lot of work in the foreseeable future. But you also have to move a giant wolf along with you, and find a new way to hide him there, and then you’ll have to find a way to, what? Keep him there, like you’re doing right now?”

“That’s pretty much the plan, here. Only question is how we do it.”

“Okay, but have you- I mean, how do you wanna get him there? And even if you manage that - Where would you even keep--”

“Oh, I’ve got that figured out already! Messaged the building company a few weeks ago, and told them to... Build stuff.”

“... What stuff, Tony?”

“Geez, don’t sound so suspicious! I only asked them to- _remodel_ part of the lower levels. The lab, and, uh, something that might be something like a wolfie-room?”

“A wolfie-room?”

Tony rolls his eyes (carefully, though, because Rhodey has that freaky ability to somehow see that even through the phone), because he has a feeling that this conversation is going to be drag. Still, it’s not like he has a lot of other options (read: none at all), so he’ll just have to endure this.

“Yeah, a big room, about the size of my lab here. With enforced walls, soundproof and fitted with a high end security door, and generally all the cool, techy stuff needed to ensure privacy - Blackout mode included. Pretty much impossible to leave or enter without my permission.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing. Oh, and I made sure that Pepper has no idea about any of that. Which wasn’t too hard, since she hasn’t made any decision concerning the lab. That’s my territory, after all, and that’s made it pretty easy.”

“So, you’re still lying to her.”

“Of fucking course I am. And that’s not what this is about, remember? It’s about moving my giant wolf to New York!”

“Yeah, but it’s not as easy as that! Do you really think it’ll work out? Even if you somehow manage to smuggle him into your Tower- New York is not Malibu!”

“Uh, yeah, I kinda know that already.”

“But you _don’t get it_!”, Rhodey groans, “because it matters a lot more than you seem to think! Things are working out now, because you’ve got a huge private property, and there’s no one else around for miles! But in New York? There’s way more people, and a lot less space. You really think Sato won’t mind if you’re no longer able to take him outside?”

“Oh, so now you’re actually gonna use that one against me?”

“Hell yeah I am, because it’s an important part! You won’t be able to do that anymore, if you take him there.”

Tony wonders if this is the right moment to mention that he’s already googled forests around the city, and the quickest route to get there. Along with looking at some moving trucks, the inconspicuous kind that will go pretty much unnoticed in the busy streets of New York, and researching about cabins in upstate New York that one could buy to spend the weekend there... Yeah, he’s gonna keep his mouth shut on this one. Which certainly doesn’t mean that he’ll stop working on that plan, of course.

“And what about long term, anyway?”

“Huh?”, the engineer murmurs as he blinks a few times to get back to the moment.

“You ever thought about what you’re gonna do with him once he’s okay again? Like I advised you to?”, Rhodey explains through clenched teeth, “Tony, please, just...”

“I did, okay? I _did_ think about that, I swear.”

“Okay, and?”

“I, uh- IkindawannakeephimfortheforeseeablefuturepossiblyforeveroruntilIactuallyfindabettersolutionthanlettinghimstaywithme.”

Tony _knows_ that Rhodey is praying for heavenly (or hellish) help again, and he can’t help but feel just a little bit bad. He knows all too well that he’s not an easy friend to have, and he knows that Rhodey knows that there’s no one else he could ask when it comes to questions like this, and so there’s little to no chance that he’ll be let down. Rhodey isn’t like that, even if it might do him some good. Like right now.

“I- I kinda don’t even know what to say to that.”

“Surprise?”

“Nah, not really”, the other man sighs as he probably drags a hand over his face, “I had a feeling, actually. You really love that wolf, huh?”

Tony looks over to where Sato is still sleeping peacefully. His paws are twitching every other moment, and he’s most likely dreaming, judging by the low rumbling and yipping sounds he makes every other moment. It’s- Cute. And Tony thinks that yeah, he really does live this giant wolf. For whatever reason, and however that came to happen.

“Yeah, guess I’m kinda fucked in that department.”

“Who would’ve thought, huh? And I guess there’s no chance you’re gonna move without Sato, am I right?”

“Unless you know a wolf sitter you never though to mention up until this point?”

“Sorry, I got nothing.”

“Me neither. So, there’s no way I can just leave him here. I doubt he’d be happy with that, either.”

Tony’s pretty sure Sato would tear the whole cliff apart if he even mentioned moving away - Without the wolf, that is. Sure, the animal can stay by himself for a while (as long as JARVIS keeps an eye on him, of course), but even that has its limits, and Tony doesn't like pushing those as it is. Moving to another state and leaving Sato in someone else’s care? No, that won’t happen. Over his dead body.

“Look, I- I know this is anything but easy. But I can’t leave him behind, and there’s no way I can just cancel the move itself, either. Pepper would kill me, and it’d only make her more suspicious. So, I don’t really have any other options, here. And the question remains: How are we gonna do this?”

Rhodey is quiet for a moment, and Tony can’t help being worried that his friend will hang up on him, after all. Considering this is just one of many instances where sanity left the room and they had to fight their way through tons of trouble without any outside help, it can only be a matter of time until Rhodey gives up on him. But again, today is not that day.

“Well, how do people move other big animals around the world? Horses, for example?”

“Wait, lemme check that real quick”, Tony murmurs as he leans forward and grabs a tablet.

The next few minutes are spent researching, both of them consulting the internet for some answers. It doesn’t take all that long for a plan to start forming between the two of them, since it’s pretty clear what they have to do.

“Charter a plane. Private, from a company that won’t ask a single question. No crew, not even a pilot, because absolutely no one can know about this. Then we’ll need some sort of container, one where Sato has enough room to stay in there while we drive him to the airport. Get the container into the loading room, fly to New York. Unload, drive to the Tower, and let the wolf out in the garage.”

“You make it all sound so easy, dear”, Tony mutters as he rubs at his tired eyes and yawns, “but yeah, I guess that’d work. Somehow. Hopefully.”

“It’s the best I can come up with right now.”

“And it’s a lot better than I had before. Which was pretty much nothing, by the way. I’m gonna start to look around, find a container, a truck, and find a plane to charter, all that shit.”

“You do that. I’m gonna go to bed, but I’ll call tomorrow. Maybe I’ll get into contact with a few trustworthy people.”

“Alright. And, Rhodey? Thanks. Means a lot to me, it really does.”

“Don’t mention it, Tones. And don’t thank me until that wolf is safely hidden away in your new tower.”

After the call, Tony lets his eyes fall shut for a moment as he leans back in his chair. Yeah, things aren’t exactly easy, but when have they ever been? The onyl difference now is that it’s not only him, but the people (and the wolf) around him that make things rather complicated. Tony likes to think that if he was still on his own, he would have no problem at all. What would he even be worrying about right now, if he was still just himself? Life was pretty simple, back then: Get up whenever, work for as long as possible, getting drunk, attend some parties and amaze people by simply existing, since most of them would never be able to understand even the most basic of his creations. Yeah, life was easy back then. Would now, too, if he hadn’t- If things hadn’t changed.

For a moment, he catches himself wishing to go back to that place. To still be nothing more than an arrogant asshole, filled with a forceful drive to create and push every boundary he encountered, a lone wolf, even though he was surrounded by people. Life was- Not better. Just... Different. And he can’t help but wonder if there aren’t a few things that he misses. Maybe- Maybe he does, every now and then. Things like not being responsible, for example. That kinda sucks, most days. Having to think ahead for more than just himself (and let’s be honest, he never really liked to do that before, either), and the freedom he always enjoyed so much. He is so used to be able to come and go as he pleases, because there was only ever an empty house and an AI waiting for him, so why would he ever hurry? That’s changed, too. A lot has changed.

With a sigh, he blinks his eyes back open and looks across the lab. Sato is awake, and he’s watching him intently. His golden eyes shimmer, and when their eyes meet he cocks his head to the side, blinking curiously. Almost automatically, Tony can feel himself start to smile, because come on, that’s actually cute! Groaning ever so slightly, he pushes himself up and onto his feet (his knees protest and his back cracks several times, but he stoically ignores that), slowly walking over to the attentive wolf.

“Did I wake you up with my loud worrying again?”, he asks lowly as he reaches a hand out and cards it gently through the soft, grey-white fur, “don’t worry, nothing too important. Just reevaluating my whole life, basically.”

It’s scary how easy it is to talk to Sato by now. Tony never understood how people could have entire conversations with their pets (not that the wolf is a pet of course!), but now he kinda gets. The big puppy is always listening, and even though he can’t answer, he gives the engineer an impression of being taken seriously, without any judgement. So yeah, he’s talking to a giant wolf, whatever.

“You done with your nap now? ‘Cause there was something I wanted to ask you, buddy.”

Sato rumbles as Tony scratches his cheek and leans heavily into his palm. The man grins as sits down on the mattress and lets the wolf rest his head in his lap, as usual.

“So, I guess you’re listening. Here’s the thing: You and I are gonna move.”

Sato’s ears twitch at that, and he lifts his head to look into Tony’s eyes again. The engineer does his best to put on a reassuring smile as he flicks one of those perked up ears and leans back onto one hand.

“I know! Crazy, right? But, uh, I kinda planned that move a while before you even showed up, and the way things are right now... I don’t think I’ll find another place for you to live in- Four days? That might be a little tight, you get what I mean?”

Sato seems like he does, because he whines lowly and leans up to nudge Tony’s chin, as if urging him to keep talking. Or something else.

“Yeah, you get it, don’t you? You understand, of course you do...”, he mutters as he scratches behind the wolf’s ears and nudges the black, cold nose with his own, “because you’re a pretty clever wolfie! So, you and I - and JARVIS and the bots, too, of course - are going to move out. And then we’re gonna move in somewhere else. How’s that sound to you, huh?”

Sato seems to be listening, but there’s no immediate response. He’s just looking at Tony, with those wide, trusting eyes, as if he wants to let him know he’d follow him anywhere, and is that not really fucking heartbreaking? Because Tony might as well be heading straight into disaster, but of course the wolf doesn’t see that and would probably follow him into an active volcano of he jumped first! Then again- What’s the alternative, here? Sato can’t stay here, and there’s no one else he trusts (except for Rhodey, but that’s still a lot less trust than he places in Tony), and nowhere else to go for him. So, he’ll follow Tony, because Tony is his best bet, and that’s kinda depressing. But he doesn’t have to tell the wolf that, too, so he only smiles softly and gently tugs on one fluffy ear.

“And I’m sure you’re gonna like it there! I mean, there’s a lot more people around, so we’ll have to be even more careful than now, and I probably won’t have that much time for you in the first few days. But I made sure you’d get you very own space, where no one will bother you! So you’ll be safely hidden away, and I’ll make sure to keep my weekends free- Did you know there are some really great woods in upstate New York? I promise I’ll take you there, I’ve actually already searched for cabins I could buy, because let’s be real, renting is _so not my style_ , and then we could spend a few days there every week!”

Sato yips at that, and Tony is pretty sure he’s just responding to his own enthusiasm, but he’s willing to pretend otherwise. Grinning, he leans forward, wrapping his arms around the wolf’s scruff, pulling him closer, pressing his face into the warm fur.

“Yeah, I knew you’d like that! And I- I promise life will be good there, too, okay? This- I know this is kinda scary - for me, too, really - but we’re gonna be alright! We always are, right? Won’t be any different this time.”

And just like that, he decided to give himself yet another reason to stay positive. He was kinda planning on saving this for another day (maybe invite Rhodey over and then surprise him), but he’s pretty much done waiting, and he has a feeling Sato is, too.

“Hey, JARVIS, how’s that leg looking right now?”

_The breaks have healed by now, and I believe it’d be safe for you to remove all remaining beandages now._

“That’s just what I wanted to hear”, Tony murmurs with a grin as he pushes the wolf back gently and gets back to his feet, “hey, buddy, how would you feel about using all for of your legs again, huh?”

The wolf blinks a few times, and then he yips excitedly, jumping to his three legs and impatiently pushing at Tony’s chest. It gets the man laughing again as he steps around the twitching animal, making his way to Sato’s hind legs. He wants to start slow and not rush any of this. Placing a hand on the wolf’s trembling hand, he pets the firm muscle (take that starvation!) a couple of times.

“Alright, but w’re gonna go slow, alright? I need you to stay really still, and move as little as possible. Think you can do that?”

Sato grumbles a little, but the twitching does die down just a little bit, and that’s all Tony’s asking for, anyway. Petting the wolf’s flank again,he reaches around and starts to slowly unravel the bandage covering the hind leg. There’s no blood or other liquid staining the material, and when he finally pulls it all off, he can’t help but blink a couple of times.

“Jesus, would you look at that”, he murmurs as he reaches over, carefully tracing the slightly raised edges of the- Scar.

Because it’s a scar now. There’s no blood, no cut apart muscle, nothing like that. Just healed over skin, and sure, that’s still sensitive to the touch and visible, but it’s- It’s healed. And apparently he did a pretty awesome job stitching the muscle together, because Sato has never seemed to have any problem putting weight on that limb, so- It should be good?

“Wow. Okay, okay, we’ve got this, we’ve got this!”, he murmurs as he hops around to the wolf’s other side, standing on the tips of his toes to reach the bandage covering the puncture wound, “not gonna lie: This won’t feel too good, but it’ll be over in a moment!”

Without waiting another moment, he grabs the bandage and rips it off. Sato barks and whips around, eyes wide and searching, but Tony only grins as he waves the bandage in front of the wolf’s nose.

“Already done! And look how well it healed, too!”

Because it has. The puncture wound is barely visible- Or it would be, if he hadn’t just ripped out a bit of fur, too, but whatever, it looks great! Tony is grinning widely by now as he tosses the piece of medical waste over his shoulder as he prances around Sato once again, this time stopping right next to his still immobilized shoulder.

“Okay. I think it’d be better if you laid down. Then I’ll cut those sheet lose, and we should be good to go!”

He has barely finished the sentence before Sato has already dropped heavily to the ground, whole body trembling in what he hopes is excitement. Tony’s more than a little nervous himself, so he hurriedly grabs a pair of scissors and gets to cutting those sheets apart. He can feel the wolf’s strong muscles twitch and tense under his hands, and he has a feeling that Sato knows exactly what will change in just a matter of seconds. Still, he forces himself to go slow, and tries his best to not broadcast his own excitement _too_ loudly (though he’s sure he fails spectacularly at that). About two minutes after he started, he takes a deep breath and pulls the sheets up and over Sato’s shoulder’s. The wolf’s eyes follow him as he crouches down on his other side and presses gently against the wide chest.

“Lie back down for me, buddy.”

Sato does, eyes never leaving Tony’s as he rolls onto his side, and the engineer quickly gets to unraveling his immobilized leg, too. Then he throws the bandages, the sheets and the padding he took from the sofa all those weeks ago behind him - And then he’s done.

“Holy shit”, he breathes as he takes a step back and stares at the newly revealed leg, “that, uh... That doesn’t look to bad!”

It really doesn’t. The fur on the leg and shoulder is matted, and he can still see some swelling, but that’s about it. There’s no apparent damage - The bones grew back together, there are no bumps or anything else that’d give him any reason to not be absolutely amazed and a little emotional, just a little bit.

“I- I think you could try getting- Okay, okay, you’re doing it, okay, that’s- that’s fine, yeah, just BE CAREFUL, OH MY GOD!”

Sato growls as he pushes himself onto all four paws, stumbling a couple of times, and there are already images of a completely demolished lab flashing behind Tony’s eyes - But a moment later he finds his balance again. For a moment, everything’s silent as the wolf gets his bearings, looking around himself as if seeing the lab for the very first time. Then, Sato woofs as he shakes out his fur, and Tony can actually _feel_ something shift and leave the wolf’s body as he watches him stretch and groan happily. He’s still favoring his fourth leg, but he doesn’t seem to be in any pain, and that’s- Wow, that’s nothing short of amazing, actually!

“Hey”, Tony murmurs as he slowly starts walking towards the big wolf, “hey, buddy. How are you feeling, hm? Any pain? You feeling alright?”

Sato looks at him as he comes closer, and then leans his head down to nudge playfully at the engineers chest, licking at the arc reactor again. His golden-brown eyes shine with warmth and happiness, and Tony feels his heart grow tight at the sight. Yeah, his wolf is alright. Still a little unsteady, but alright. With a slightly disbelieving laugh, Tony lets himself fall forward, pressing himself into the warm fur, carding his hands through it as he listens to Sato’s content rumble. They did it, they actually did it! They managed to nurse the wolf back to life, after JARVIS initially told him the animal had less than five hours left to live, and here he is now, standing on all of his four paws, and ALIVE and HAPPY and ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!

“Fuck, wolfie, we’re awesome!”, Tony laughs as he pulls back slightly to gaze into the wolf’s eyes again, “we really did it! After everything- We fucking did it! Do you even understand? How awesome all of this is? How awesome _you_ are, you big, wonderful puppy?”

Sato seems- He looks like he’s grinning actually, woofing and licking at Tony’s face, his throat, nudging him with cold nose and nipping at his fingers whenever they get close to the wolf’s maw. Yeah, he understands. Just in this moment, he understands everything, Tony’s just sure of it! Still grinning widely, he pushes the licking snout back and buries a hand in the wolf’s fur, tugging gently.

“This calls for celebration, don’t you think? JARVIS, is there anyone around, are we good to go out?”

_I don’t detect anyone in a five mile radius, sir. It should also be dark enough to provide you with the necessary cover._

“Alright, then let’s go!”

Sato follows as he hurries through the lab, gathering a few things he might need, and the wolf’s actually trembling with excitement even now. Yeah, it’s time they get outside, and he can’t wait to see his wolf walk on all four legs again. No more limping, no more awkward hopping, no, Sato is going to run again, and Tony will be there to see! Once he’s gathered everything he can think of right now, he turns towards the garage door, impatiently gesturing for Sato to follow.

“Come on, buddy! The outside world is waiting for us!”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, last chapter for this part! Had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you enjoyed, too.
> 
> I'm currently working on a later part, but I'm optimistic I'll be able to post during the next 7-10 days, so keep an eye out for that! And afterwards, there's gonna be another multi chapter fic - In which a lot of things will come together! Yay :D
> 
> So, onto the last chapter! Feedback is always appreciated, and thank you very much for sticking around <3
> 
> Love,  
> Goldie

He feels energy vibrate in his muscles. His ears twitch from one side to the other as he greedily inhales the air. He can feel his entire body stretch and ache as he slowly, ever so slowly steps outside, into the cold moonlight. A breeze rushes over him, ruffling his fur and filling his lungs with the scent of adventure and promise, and he can’t help but shake himself the moment he sets his paws into the night. Yes, it still hurts. His leg feels a little fragile, and he’s careful not to start jumping around immediately - But he _knows_ that it’s done. He knows that he’s healed, that he is whole again, no longer a mere shell of what he used to be.

Sato rumbles lowly as blinks a few times and takes stock of his body. It still aches in a few places, mainly his front and hind leg, and his shoulder, but he can’t help feeling relief and excitement flood through his mind. Those warriors shattered his bones, left him crawling for his life, and here he is - Standing on four of his legs, proud and strong and whole! It’s an absolutely overwhelming feeling, and he wishes... Sato wishes for a mouth to somehow express his gratitude to the man standing by his side, watching him with a warm, almost loving expression. Tony has healed him. He took him in and for some reason decide to not kill him the second he saw a giant wolf, but rather nurse him back to health, and now he’s looking at him with pride and happiness, and Sato wants to- He just wants to tell him how much he’s come to love him, for everything he’s done, and so much more. But he’s a wolf, so all he can do is walk forward, paws sinking into the warm sand as he presses his snout against the man’s chest, whining, rumbling and licking at the glowing in his heart, trying to somehow keep his own from bursting with all this relief, all this excitement, all this _love_ that aches deep inside of his chest. He has never felt like this for anyone else, except for-- But no one else, and he wants, he _needs_ to share it, _needs_ to make this wonderful man see! Because there is so much sadness, and sometimes Sato thinks that Tony’s mind must be a rather dark place time at times, which doesn’t make sense when he himself is such a bright, warm creature.

“You seem pretty happy about this”, Tony now chuckles in his ear as he cards his hands through the wolf’s fur and gently tugs on the strands, “had a feeling you’d be happy to be up and walking again - No hobbling around for you anymore!”

How can he make him see? Is there any way to let him know just how- How much all of this means? Sato wishes for a mouth and the right words, he wishes for a few hours where he’d sit with the man and make him listen as he tells his story, if only to make Tony understand that this, this _matters_ , this is _important_ and _unbelievable_ at the same time, and he wants to the man to know that he will never, ever take his kindness for granted.

“Wanna try walking a little further, hm? Show me what an awesome job I did? C’mon, let’s walk around for a bit!”

The wolf follows Tony without a moment of hesitation. It takes a few seconds to get used to having four legs at his disposal again, and he stumbles a couple of times, but Tony is always there to catch him and helps him find his balance again. And then, just like that, he’s walking. Slowly, carefully, but no longer struggling as they make their way down the beach.

“Wow. That’s- I’m kinda speechless. And that doesn’t happen too often, so- Yeah, you might know that already, but still! It’s awesome, is what I’m saying.”

It really is, Sato thinks, even if you don’t know- You don’t know just _how much_ you have done. _What_ you have done. The darkness in your mind keeps you from understanding. But I understand. And I will never forget what you did for me.

“Give it about another week, and you’ll be running around like before any of this shit went down! Assuming you did run around before, that is. Did you, though? Or is that- Not your thing? I dunno, all those documentaries talked about how wolves run a lot, but maybe it’s different for you? So, uh, maybe you’re just kinda not into running? But either way, you’ll be able to do that again. Doesn’t matter if you choose to stay on the sofa- I mean, in front of the sofa, instead, because trust me: I get that, I really do! So, whatever you’re gonna decide is fine with me. Just so you know.”

If he had a human body, Sato would laugh now, because Tony doesn’t know- Can’t know, of course, how would he? But Sato used to love nothing more than running through the entire realm. His body might’ve been built for fighting, but he mostly relished its ability for speed and perseverance. Paws thundering on the soft ground, he’d spend whole days racing through the fields and forests surrounding the palace, leaving anyone chasing him behind. There was no one who could keep up with him whenever he truly set his mind to it, so the idea of ever choosing to stay still instead is laughable at best. But Tony doesn’t know that, he has no idea... And that gives Sato pause. He comes to a halt at the shore as he watches the man, who walks a few more steps before stoping as well, turning to face the wolf.

“You alright? Is the leg bothering you? We can always head back, you know, and give it a rest. Might be better, actually, if you’re pain. Shouldn’t overdo it the first time around-- HEY!”

Sato woofs as he leaps at Tony, playfully pushing his snout against the man’s chest, making him stumble backwards, causing him to land on backside in the soft sand. He grins down at him for just a second - And then he spins around and runs off. He can hear Tony calling after him, voice filled with fear and distress, but he knows better than to go too far. After a couple of strides his turns back, woofing and yipping and wagging his tail as Tony struggles to his feet, watching his with fearful eyes.

“What the fuck, wolfie? You trying to give me a heart attack? I already have-- HEY, WHOA, WATCH IT!”, but Sato only barks, as he jumps forward, pushing the man back a few steps, nipping at his clothes, “are you crazy? What the fuck are you--”

But the wolf doesn’t listen, instead he pushes against the glowing chest once more, before jumping back and barking again, trying to make Tony understand. Sato is done waiting, he is done taking it slow and resting, he is _done_. And now he wants to play, on all four paws, and he wants to play with Tony. The man is watching him with a cocked head and a bemused expression, and Sato wants to roll his eyes at him. But then, the man finally lets out a sigh and throws his hands up.

“Okay, okay, I get it! You wanna play, right?”

The wolf yips again and wags his tail a bit more.

“And you wanna play with me, huh? You sure about that? Because you’re a giant wolf, and I’m nothing more but an old, though still dashingly handsome, cranky human, and I have a feeling your idea of playing might involve-- OH FUCK NO!”

Sato is done waiting, so he jumps forward once again and pushes the man into the soft sand, landing on top of him. Tony gasps, but Sato knows it’s part of his own game, because he’s very careful not to rest any of his weight on the man’s chest, leaning forward to lick his beard and cheeks, wagging his tail happily.

“Oh, you’ve done it now, you horrible beast! Get off me, and I’ll show you revenge!”

Sato barks excitedly, jumping off the man and trembling with the urge to move, to play and run and fight as the man pushes himself back up onto his feet. And then, with a wide grin and mischief glinting in his eyes, he runs towards the wolf. And then they play.

It’s- Different. Sato remembers playing with his father, and he remembers playing with his uncle, and other... Other people, and creatures, he believes, but he’s not quite sure. It happened too long ago to be sure about it, anymore. But he remembers some things, some games he played, and he knows that this is still very different. Here, he has to watch his strength, because he can sense that it’d be all too easy to break Tony apart. He knows how hard and how long to push, and he’s careful to never, ever let his concentration slip for even a moment whenever he pushes the man away or lets himself fall of top of him. Sato always knew he was stronger than most children, and he learned early on how to control himself, and he has no problem doing that right now, because this is Tony. And Tony deserves gentle care and protection, too, even if he doesn’t seem to believe so himself. So, he slows himself down, pushes down the urge to just run and jump and growl and bite, doesn’t play rough but light and gentle, always making sure to stay close to Tony, who can’t move quite as fast as he can. But it’s wonderful, still. It feels indescribably good to be moving again, and it’s a lot of fun chasing Tony over the beach, and being chased in return. It’s easy, and it doesn’t hurt, and he isn’t scared of being capture - He craves it, almost, because whenever the man manages to corner him (whenever Sato allows him to do so), he wraps his arms around the wolf, grinning and laughing - Behaving like a silly pup himself, almost. It’s a beautiful sight to see. The darkness is gone, if only for a few moments as he rolls in the soft sand, pressed against the man’s warm body, there’s no reason to be afraid. And Sato closes his eyes and relishes in it, tries to take it all in, so that he will be able to remember this, too, in the darker days he’s sure are going to come at some point in the uncertain future.

After a while, when they’re both panting and there’s sweat covering Tony’s forehead, they lie down in the warm sand, breathing and trying to calm their racing hearts. A cool breezes washes over the shore and cools them down, and Toyn leans sideways, allowing his back to rest against Sato’s flank as they both look out over the dark ocean. The world is quiet, once again, but the wolf is no longer scared by the absence of noise. This silence is completely different than what he lived through on Lyngvy. Here, he can listen to the sound of small waves crashing onto the shore, to the soft breeze, Tony’s breath and heartbeat, and underneath all of that, that soft, familiar hum that makes him sigh and close his eyes for just a moment.

“‘S really good. That you’re okay now, I mean. It’s- You know, I kinda had my doubts. But this... Wolfie, I can’t even tell you how amazing this is. Honestly, this might be one of the best things I’ve ever done. And that’s- That means something, you hear me? _You_ mean something. To me. You mean a lot to me. So, uhm, just wanted to let you know. In case you didn’t already. But I guess you already because, because let’s face it: You’re way smarter than me. At least when it comes to shit like this.”

Sato wonders how it’s possible for a single being to be this kind. This open and generous, even with all those scars he sees whenever he looks at the man. But Tony makes it seem so easy, almost natural and the most simple answer to the question, all while still lamenting about how he is such a bad person. Sato would like to tell him that he has met bad people, and that Tony is nothing like them at all. He might be damaged and scarred and hurt, but he is not cruel, and his soul shines brightly even in the wolf’s darkest moments. Sometimes he wonders if that’s the light he’s been looking for - The star that will guide him... Home? Is this his home now? The wolf isn’t sure, but he also isn’t sure where else would want to go.

Father... But father is far away, and Sato has no way to reach him. He doesn’t know how to travel between the realms, not without his father to guide him. And maybe- Maybe it’s better this way. If his father hasn’t reached him until now, he simply might not be looking for him. Sato wouldn’t hold it against him. He knows that his father loves him with all his heart, but he also knows that the sorcerer was so tired near the end, and maybe- Maybe he simply needs to rest. Sato has been resting for a while now, and he likes to think that his father is doing the same. He likes it more than what he sees in his dreams, and the fears those images instill in heart. Still, he wonders, and he hurts, because he loves his father, still, and he wishes to see him again. But he can’t, and he’s no longer sure if his father will ever come for him, or if it won’t be Odin’s guards, instead, and if he’ll be able to run fast enough when they come for him--

And then he feels it- Another strong, ancient urge that bubbles up in his chest, crawling through his throat, into his mouth, and before he has a chance to fight back, it pushes against his fangs and forces his maw open, and he throws his head back and howls.

It’s a sound he’s been holding in for centuries, ever since they rammed that damned into his mouth to keep him from crying for help, so it’s loud and long and vibrates through the beach and the shore and his entire body, making it tingle as his ears start to ring, and he knows it’s a mistake, knows how easy it would be to hear him and come running with swords and spears and hatred, but he can’t stop, can’t hold it in any longer. So he closes his eyes and lets it all go - His fear, his anger, desperation and the longing tearing at his chest, the loneliness he still feels and the love that threatens to tear his already damaged heart apart - All of that can be heard in his howl as it rises up towards the sky, floats over the ocean and into the ground, and he can’t help but feel himself shake at the sound he’s making.

And just like that, it’s all over. His howl ends, and the silence now seems almost deafening in comparison. With a deep sigh he lowers his head again, closing his eyes so as not to see Tony’s undoubtedly horrified expression, because this was what they forbade him from doing, and surely they did so for a reason. He flinches when he feels a warm, rough hand run through his fur, scratching behind his ears and then gently tugging at it. Sato doesn’t want to, but he still turns his head to face what he’s so afraid of - The fear he has caused.

But it’s not there. Instead, Tony is staring at him with wide, shining eyes, and a huge smile on his mouth. Sato cocks his head confusedly, but the man is already gripping both sides of his head and turns him to look at him directly.

“Holy shit, wolfie! I had no idea you could sing that well!”

It’s- Strange. And not what he was expecting at all. Sato can’t help but whine lowly, but Tony only laughs as he wraps his arms around his scruff, burying his face in the wolf’s fur and holding on tightly. There’s no fear, no disgust, only- Affection? Love? Something warm and safe, and Sato slowly, carefully drapes his head over Tony’s shoulder, pushing the man closer into his chest until he can feel their hearts beat against each other.

“Full of surprises, aren’t you? Shit, I never thought any of this would happen, but, buddy, please believe me when I tell you. I wouldn’t change a single thing about- This. About us. About you, alright? It’s- It’s all good the way it is. And I wouldn’t change anything about it.”

This time, Sato is glad he doesn’t have a mouth to talk, because there’s nothing left to say. Instead, he closes his eyes and curls himself tightly around Tony, rumbling lowly in his chest as he feels warmth spread through his entire body. Silence, again, but he doesn’t mind at all. All he needs to hear is Tony’s heartbeat, the soft humming, and the knowledge that here and now, it’s all good.


End file.
